Cookie Eclipse Activity

12 oreo cookies placed in a clock-face positions representing the various positions of the moon and sun during an eclipse.

Updated April 9, 2024 (day after the solar eclipse)

We had a lot of fun with the Cookie Eclipse activity and we learned a few things that I thought is worth sharing.

I live in North Carolina, so we were not in the path of totality. The news stated that our area would have an 82% eclipse. What does 82% look like? Before the eclipse, each person was given an Oreo cookie and asked to create a partial eclipse demonstrating what that person thought viewed partial eclipse would look like.
During the eclipse, we created the clock face tactile eclipse phases by adding an Oreo as each phase happened. (See Cookie Eclipse activity below.) The tactile representation was beneficial for anyone who could not visually see the eclipse as it happened.
The Cookie Eclipse image below was misleading for us. We started with the full circle (all white) cookie in the 12 o’clock position, as this represents the sun before (and after) the moon passed in front. The second cookie (1 o’clock position) was mostly white with the “moon” cookie covering the bottom right corner.
In our area, the moon did not start on the right, pass in front of the sun and move off to the left (which is what most people expected). Instead, the moon started in the lower right, passed in front of the moon leaving a sliver on the left side, then moved up and back off to the right. The left side of the sun was never covered by the moon. From our perspective, the moon did not appear to travel in a straight line past the sun. The moon’s path will be different, according to your location in the United States.

Helpful hint: Cookie lovers already know this, but twist the Oreo cookie to take the cookie top off. Pulling straight up will break the cookie!

________

Students are buzzing with excitement about the 2024 solar eclipse! There are several options for making the actual eclipse accessible, but is there a hands-on activity to help blind students fully understand what is happening during an eclipse? Yes! Check out the Cookie Eclipse activity!

Cookie Eclipse activity

You will need 12 Oreo cookies for this activity.

The cookies are placed on a large plate or cutting board in the shape of a clock face. The top (12 o’clock) is a normal cookie with the two black cookie pieces on top of one another with no white cream showing. The cookie in the 1 o’clock position shows a sliver of white on the top left. (The top black cookie is moved slightly to the right and down.) Each cookie (1 to 5 o’clock) shows more white. The 6 o’clock cookie at the bottom of the clock face is fully white (black cookie top is completely removed). 7 to 11 o’clock cookies have reduced white showing, with the black cookie top moving up from the bottom, left.