THE 2024 TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE AS A DRIVER FOR ENGAGEMENT AND RESEARCH COLLABORATION BETWEEN HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE STUDENTS

The total solar eclipse of 8 April 2024 tracked across the central and eastern United States, creating an opportunity for millions of people to see this remarkable phenomenon.It also provided a shared experiential learning opportunity for students of all ages.This poster reports on a collaborative effort between undergraduate students at Bucknell University and high school students at The Greenhill School.Both groups of students worked together to design and execute an "astronomy fair" on the day of the eclipse for the Greenhill community.This fair comprised hands-on stations and in-person presentations describing the scale and geometry of the Earth, Moon, and Sun, and the precise alignment required for a total eclipse.Both groups also worked together to design and enable research experiments involving observations of the Sun's inner corona (which can only be done during an eclipse).The educational and scientific components of the program were quite successful, based on the feedback of the ~1500 K-12 participants and the scientific data acquired.Perhaps even more importantly, the student organizers (both high school and undergraduate) deeply valued the opportunity to develop and lead the program collaboratively.As a result of this experience, several indicated interest in pursuing physical science or science education as careers.