HOUSTON — We are less than a week away from the solar eclipse and Space Center Houston has been working on special eclipses boxes for students across the greater Houston area.
On Tuesday, Space Center Houston started delivering their eclipse boxes. Alvin ISD was one of the first school districts they dropped boxes off to ahead of the eclipse.
Space Center Houston brought along NASA Astronaut and Chief Science Officer Megan McArthur to surprise the students.
“This is a new experience for me. I get to come and talk to students a lot about living and working in space, which I love, but this really feels like it has an impact for the teachers and the students to do some hands-on learning, which I love,” said McArthur.
McArthur was involved in putting together the activities that are inside the "eclipse in a box."
“The one that I really enjoy is the Earth-Moon-Sun model that really demonstrates for people why it's so unique and rare to get this alignment of the three celestial bodies,” said McArthur.
Teachers are thankful for the resources that will help make the day special for their students.
“To give our students the opportunity to experience the solar eclipse because they wanted to experience it for 20 more years,” said 5th-grade science teacher at Hood Case Elementary, Samantha Martinez. “And I hope that they remember this for the rest of their lives.”
The students at Hood Case Elementary are eager for the eclipse, especially those interested in space.
“I want to be an astronaut when I grow up. It’s really exciting,” said 5th-grade student Joseph Jimenez.
Getting to talk to an astronaut has them even more excited.
"I learned that she does think that there's other like life forms and I wanted to know that about space," Jimenez said.
Space Center Houston will continue to deliver their eclipse in a box to different districts throughout the rest of the week.