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Lesson Plan
Messenger Education

Sensing the Invisible: The Herschel Experiment

For Students 5th - 8th Standards
The electromagnetic spectrum includes everything from very powerful gamma rays (which are used to treat cancer) to much weaker radio waves (which include microwaves). Through a hands-on activity, scholars explore the temperature...
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Lesson Plan
Teach Engineering

Designing a Spectroscopy Mission

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
In this mind-bending activity, young engineers explore this question of whether or not light actually bends. Using holographic diffraction gratings, groups design and build a spectrograph. The groups then move on research a problem...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Remote Sensing and the Electromagnetitc Spectrum

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders conclude that each color of the spectrum has a different amount of thermal energy by measuring temperature with a thermometer. They infer that there is an invisible band of the spectrum by measuring temperature beyond the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploring Ultraviolet (UV) Light From the Sun

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers identify the different energy given off by the sun. In this earth science instructional activity, students predict where the UV beads will turn the darkest color. They explain the importance of using UV protection.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Using Newsprint as a UV Detector

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students investigate the effects of UV radiation. In this earth science instructional activity, students explain how the time of day relate to UV abundance on Earth. They determine if weather affects the amount of UV that Earth receives.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bubble-ology

For Teachers K - 3rd
Students observe the visible spectrum while observing light hitting the surface of bubbles. They blow large bubbles and observe how the colors change.
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Lesson Plan
University of Waikato

Māui and the Sun

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Using a Maori legend, How Maui Tamed the Sun, youngsters are introduced to the importance of sunlight to civilization. Teach them about nuclear fusion that occurs to produce the solar energy we later receive on Earth as electromagnetic...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Solar Electricity ~ The Colour Sensitivity of a Photovoltaic Cell

For Teachers 7th - 10th
Teacher's notes, a materials list, detailed procedure, tips, and extension ideas are all included to make teaching this lesson plan on photovoltaic cells a sunny spot in your day! After some brief background reading, physical science...
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Lesson Plan
Cornell University

What Happens When We Excite Atoms and Molecules?

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Excited atoms lead to exciting lessons! Learners use heat and light to excite both atoms and molecules. They display their learning in the form of Bohr models depicting the excited state of the atoms.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Energy: Light -- Spinning Color Wheel

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders make spinning color wheels to determine how energy effects what colors look like. They paint or color a color wheel with the seven colors of the spectrum. Next, the spin the wheel to determine what happens. In order to...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What Role Does Light Play Within the Vision Process?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students are introduced to the relationship between light and vision. In groups, they participate in experiments to discover how different wavelengths are divided in the visible spectrum. They record their answers and discuss their...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Learning Light's Properties

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students examine the properties of light and the behavior of light during interference.  In this electromagnetics lesson students explain behaviors of light.
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Lesson Plan
Ocean and Coastal Interdisciplinary Science

The Dark Ocean

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Is the ocean blue at all depths? Nope! Explore the science behind the light spectrum in deep, dark waters. The lesson recommends watching The Blue Planet: Open Ocean—The Deep, but it's not integral, or you can substitute another clip....
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Lesson Plan
University of Colorado

Designing a Spectroscopy Mission

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Design a mission over the rainbow. Small groups spend several weeks together determining a mission related to spectroscopy. The teams build spectrographs and analyze the design to determine whether it will carry out the mission. At the...
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Lesson Plan
National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network

Jell-O® Waveguide and Power Loss

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Jell-O® can help model the transmission of light through fiber optic cables. Young scientists use the jiggly dessert to make a waveguide to transmit a laser beam from one point to another. Their models help them learn the function of...
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Lesson Plan
Art Institute of Chicago

Color Combinations

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Explore color through an examination of pointillism and light. Class members view Georges Seraut's famous painting on a computer, zooming in and out to see the details and effects of the technique. They then cover how light and color are...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Electromagnetic Spectrum/Spectroscopy

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students examine the electromagnetic spectrum and demonstrate the elements within.  In this investigative lesson students complete a demonstration and calculate the energy of a photon. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How to verify the relationship between the wavelength and frequency of light

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers collaborate in heterogeneous groups with each student having a different role. They comprehend the relationship between the frequency and wavelength of light. They record their observations in a table that is included on...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Labs from Chicago, Summer 1993: Calibrating the Sun's Light

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students experiment with the luminosity of the Sun's light. In this luminosity lesson, students participate in an experiment with luminosity of the sun and flashlights. They make filters and fiber optic sources.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

I'm So Bright, I Wear My Shades Indoors

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students observe and draw energy using UV beads. They describe how light can be produced, reflected, refracted, and separated into visible light of various colors.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Electromagnetic Radiation

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore the nature of electromagnetic spectrum through a series of experiments. In this physics instructional activity, students determine how light behaves under certain circumstances. They explain how humans perceive colors.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

You, Me and UV

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students explore the validity of claims of UV protection. Students research UV rays and the cancer danger presented by these rays. Working in groups, they perform tests on sunglass and sunscreen products to determine if their claim of UV...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Let There Be Light

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Learners observe that different lights have different effects on matter. Students see that ultraviolet light is powerful although it cannot be seen through this teacher led demo-experiment.
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Lesson Plan
University of Texas

Multi-wavelength Astronomy

For Students 9th - 12th
Explore a land far, far away with a well-designed lesson that examines electromagnetic imaging as a way to obtain information about galactic structures. Learners begin to see the importance of looking beyond the visual spectrum to reveal...

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