BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Fourth-grader Wesley Walp was the sun. Gabrielle McLean played the moon. Colton James Reed was the moon. Interviewing them was Emily Jane Panzica.
It was all a fun and creative lesson about the solar eclipse.
The National Honor Society students put on the skit Thursday morning for their fellow schoolmates and parents at Tapestry Charter Elementary School in Buffalo.
Melissa Leopard is the kindergarten through fourth grade STEAM teacher. STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics.
The total solar eclipse that Buffalo will experience on April 8 is the ultimate science lesson, she said.
"It's a way of getting kids interested in science like none other," she told 7 News. "We made sure that we got it creative and fun and a little silly... just to get kids feeling like they can approach the solar eclipse without having to be an adult."
Thursday morning, the fourth graders performed a rap about the solar system, the kindergartners did a solar fashion show and the Honor Society students did a skit pretending they were doing a newscast in which different celestial bodies were being interviewed on TV.
"You're looking especially bright today," Emily asked Wesley, pointing a microphone at him. "Tell me why your sunshine is being blocked by the moon. Is there anything that we can see from you on April 8th?"
"Yes," Wesley said, wearing a cardboard sun cutout and sunglasses. "My atmosphere. Because I'm so bright you can only see my atmosphere when the moon is blocking the rest of me."
The children will repeat their performances Friday night at Tapestry's STEAM night.
Leopard said that each student at the school will receive a free pair of eclipse viewing glasses to make sure they can experience the phenomenon safely.
All across Western New York, there are several eclipse-related events planned and 7 News has compiled the events we are aware of which you can find here.
