Students investigate the Hubble telescope's role in astrophysics research. They complete a Webquest, watch a video, view Hubble photographs, play online games, answer discussion questions, and evaluate newspaper articles about optics.

Students research space flight exploration and technology. In small groups, they research a significant event from early time until the start of the space age. A class time line is created from the research groups.

Students build their knowledge and understanding of vocabulary related to space.  In this space lesson, students discuss four categories of words and phrases related to space. 

For this quartz worksheet, students read about the chemical composition of quartz and its commercial applications. Then students complete 7 short answer questions.

Students, in groups, explore how astronomical spacecraft and computers create images of objects in space.

Students investigate the integrity and strength of different types of food wraps. They test the wraps and create a graphic organizer for the data. Once it is organized then a lab report can be written. The lesson plan contains background...

Students construct a simple spectroscope. They observe the emission spectrum produce by a source of light.

Students using different experiments and activities explore electromagnetic radiation and the effect on the Earth.

Students calculate the Balmer series. In this physics lesson, students observe hydrogen lamp spectra using spectrometers. They calculate wavelength and compare them with their theoretical calculations.

Students investigate vision and the anatomy of the human eye. They complete a Webquest, watch a video about the structure of the eye, take an online quiz, answer discussion questions, and read newspaper articles about activities that...

Students conduct an experiment to control the breeding of Japanese Medaka fish. They collect the fertilized eggs and view and record the fish's embryological development daily to compare the stages to human development.

Young scholars identify the characteristics of aerosols. Using remote sensing, they participate in an experiment in which they determine how the sun's radiation and elements in the atmosphere interact with one another. They also...

Young scholars work in pairs to construct a simple stereoscope.

Young scholars construct a simple refracting telescope. They calculate the magnification.

Young scholars analyze a designated galaxy with a partner or in a small group.

Students determine their eye's blind spot. In this biology lesson, students explain what causes this visual deficiency. They give real life applications of this concept.

Students observe the outer planets. In this science activity, students use a telescope locate the outer planets of the solar system. Students create a video of their observations.

This resource provides information on light as well as links to additional sites on light and optics.

Students will investigate the properties of light waves. They will learn about the different types of electromagnetic waves and mechanical waves, and investigate the phenomena of reflection, refraction, interference, and diffraction.

This site discusses primary lighting sources and gives information on the different properties and spectral characteristics of each. Also includes links to some interactive Java applets.

The meaning and cause of refraction--as well as Snell's law of refraction--are discussed. Includes an interactive problem-solving form in which visitors relate angles of refraction to the incident angle and the indices of refraction.

Light travels as transverse waves and can travel through a vacuum. Sound travels as longitudinal waves and needs to travel through a solid, liquid or gas. Read about the properties of light and of sound, and learn the differences between...

A collection of simple experiments for exploring the basic properties of light and color.

A collection of information on the science of light and optics. Features a wide variety of resources: key events in history, reference materials, multimedia links, optical illusion activities, glossary of optics terms, and information on...