Curated OER
Refraction B2—When is Light Reflected Internally?
Physics is phun in this lesson. Young physicists use a lightbox to test how and where light is refracted and reflected as it travels through transparent materials. Angles of incidence and refraction, sine of both angles, and the ratio...
Cornell University
Light Waves: Grades 9-12
Explore the behavior of light waves with a lab activity. Scholars build new vocabulary through experimentation and observation. Using different mediums, they model reflection, refraction, transmission, diffusion, and scattering of light.
Teach Engineering
What Does Light See?
The second installment of a seven-part series focuses on the refraction of light and how it affects the colors we see. Learners consider how this concept connects to biosensors for cancer detection.
Curated OER
Super Gelatin
Students investigate the refraction properties of gelatin to calculate its index of refraction. They discover that as the light travels through the gelatin, its speed and wavelength also change. Students find th indes of refraction of an...
Curated OER
Reflect and Refract
Pupils explore light. In this properties of light lesson, students define the terms refract, reflect, and diffract after listening to the teacher's description. Pupils listen to the book Light Magic and observe a spoon in a glass of...
Curated OER
Electromagnetic and Physical Waves
Learners compare and contrast electromagnetic and physical waves. For this wave lesson, students discover that all waves reflect, refract, and diffract energy. Learners work in small groups to experiment with waves and evaluate the type...
Curated OER
Stations of Light
Student groups rotate through four stations to examine light energy behavior: refraction, magnification, prisms and polarization. They see how a beam of light is refracted (bent) through various transparent mediums. Students investigate...
Cornell University
Light Waves: Grades 6-8
Explore the behavior of light with different materials. Collaborative groups determine whether certain materials absorb, reflect, diffract, or transmit light waves. They then measure the angle of incidence and angle of reflection.
Curated OER
Learning Light's Properties
Students examine the properties of light and the behavior of light during interference. In this electromagnetics lesson students explain behaviors of light.
Curated OER
Jell-O Optics
Learners observe an activity with Jell-O to learn about optics. In this investigative lesson students fill out a handout on the activity that helps them to investigate the index of refraction and the speed of light.
Cornell University
Spectral Analysis with DVDs and CDs
Build a spectrometer to analyze properties of light. Scholars examine the spectrum from CDs and DVDs from two different light sources. Using the spectrum, they work to identify different elements.
Curated OER
THE MANY COLORS OF SUNLIGHT
Students examine rainbow components, spectral colors, colors perceived by the eye, hot solids, glowing rarefied gas, absorption, that light is a wave, and optics.
Curated OER
Star Light, Star Bright
Four modules are a part of this stellar lesson plan. Space scientists view the electromagnetic spectrum, they generate waves on a computer screen in order to measure frequency and wavelength, discover how light is related to temperature,...
LABScI
Acoustics: The Sound Lab
If the delay between a sound and its echo is less than 1/10th of a second, the human ear can’t distinguish it. Through the use of a Slinky, rubber band guitar, and straws, scholars explore where sound comes from and how it travels. Whole...
Curated OER
What Role Does Light Play Within the Vision Process?
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...
Curated OER
Spectral Surprise
Young scholars create spectral colors. In this hands-on science lesson, students examine the electromagnetic spectrum as they follow steps to create a model that separates and displays light.
Curated OER
(S-4) The Many Colors of Sunlight
High schoolers observe and explore the characteristics of light.
Curated OER
E3 Project Instructional Plan: Light
Eleventh graders investigate the nature of light. For this physics lesson, 11th graders determine how light intensity varies with the distance of the light source.
Curated OER
Spectral Surprise
Students experience a model that produces, separating, and displaying spectral colors.
Curated OER
Enlightening Explorations, Part III
Sixth graders continue their examination of light. In groups, they make rainbows and examine the spectrum of visible light. They travel between various stations recording their observations about the behaviors of light. To end the...