Totality Viewing Celebration at SUNY Potsdam (Potsdam, NY)

TOTALITY CELEBRATION AT SUNY POTSDAM
POTSDAM, NY

All are invited to the SUNY Potsdam campus in St. Lawrence County, NY to view the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse once-in-a-lifetime event and participate in FREE educational and celebratory activities including space-themed coloring, eclipse music, an eclipse history outdoor exhibit, a time capsule and a large-scale model of the solar system! Eclipse viewing glasses and fun giveaways including custom frisbees and vinyl stickers will be available for all in attendance. Eclipse T-shirts will be for sale at the concession stand and within the College Store at the Barrington Student Union. There will also be refreshments and keepsakes available to mark the occasion!

Events are set to kick off at 2:00pm and will include interactive science lessons and demonstrations in the labs of Timerman Hall, cooking in the HEARTH and explorations in the WISER Greenhouse, Planetarium, and in the Academic Quad. SUNY Potsdam student clubs and organizations will also get in on the fun, including space Lego building with the Anthropology Club and an eclipse book sale with the History Association. 

The eclipse viewing will take place at the Marshall Park Bandshell with music and live narration beginning around 3:00pm, as well as a second designated quiet viewing area in the Academic Quad. Visitors should park in lots 22, 26 or 31. CLICK HERE for a campus event map (additional maps & resources below).

Activity List
Hosted by SUNY Potsdam's Educational Departments: Earth and Environmental Sciences, Mathematics, Biology, Environmental Studies, History, Sociology, Anthropology, & Chemistry.

• How scientists study the composition of other planets in the Petrography lab in Timerman (122). Guests can come in and learn about the rocks and minerals that make up planets in our solar system. Guests can use petrographic microscopes to learn about how to identify minerals using thin sections.
• Imaging and Mapping Space exhibit will be run in Timerman Commons. Guests can play in the augmented reality sandbox to build maps of Mars and learn about how we image planetary surfaces. We have lots of high-resolution maps and photos of Earth, Mars, and the Moon up on display.
• Planetary Geology and Water Flow with the stream table in Timerman. We will have the stream table up and running to show guests how we use patterns in sediment to understand surface processes on other planets.
• Our Solar System: explore a scale model of our solar system (that begins with a human sized Sun ball) on Barrington Drive.
• Building Platonic Solids will explain Kepler’s original flawed model of the solar system and eventual correct model. Join us in the PAC lobby.
• WISER Center in Space: Come to the WISER Center to learn about techniques for growing plants for food in space. Learn about photosynthesis and the sun and plant reaction time to changes in sunlight.
• Totality in the Planetarium: The planetarium will be open and demonstrations explaining the nature of eclipses will be running.
• Google Moon and Mars: We will have the GIS lab (Timerman 121) open and running google Moon and google Mars so that guests can come in and explore those surfaces.
• Collecting Eclipse History: Join us as we create 2024 solar eclipse memories.
• Space for Food: Eclipse themed cooking at the HEARTH
• How eclipse's work with celestial model. We will have a "dark" lab room in Timerman 120 with 3 celestial models up (Sun (light), Moon, Earth that orbit) to learn about different types of eclipses and what causes them.
• Space Themed Coloring in Marshall Park with Mathematics
• Animals and the Eclipse will document current research on how animals respond to eclipses.
• Sleeping Soybeans: We will have soybean plants that “nod-off” when it goes dark. Biology
• Eclipse Music in the quad with the History Department DJs
• Eclipse History Outdoor Exhibit in the Quad. Come explore some of the ways eclipses have made history.
• Exochemistry: Making materials in space will explore how will we be able to live and work in space? We’ll need to adapt to the environment of the planet or moon. This presentation shows some of the ways we might deal with making fuel, building materials, etc., on Mars, Titan or the Moon.

SUNY Potsdam student clubs will also be hosting the following activities

• Space Lego Building with Anthropology Club
• Eclipse Book Sale with The History Association
• Astral Art with the Environmental Club
• A performance of A Sharp Arrangement: 2pm - 2:30pm at the Marshall Park Bandshell
• Make a Galaxy Tote with SOCA LOCA
• Augmented Reality Sandbox and Name our Dinosaur with Geology Club in Timerman Commons

Resources
OFFICIAL EVENT PAGE | EVENT MAP | ACTIVITY LIST | EVENT HANDOUT
CAMPUS MAP | SUNY POTSDAM | STLC TOURISM