Taken from NASA.gov: One of the reasons that ancient peoples could not predict total solar eclipses was because they did not appreciate the mathematics involved in forecasting. Also, many of the parameters needed to accurately predict eclipses had not been astronomically measured until the first century CE.
Spark your math thinking!
Set up your math mini spark recording page: #35: The Math Behind the Solar Eclipse
Go to this site to read about eclipses. Then click the arrows to go through the quick facts. Record several details.