Teach Engineering
Light vs. Heat Bulbs
Careful, that light bulb is hot! Compare heat and light energy using a simple light bulb. The exercise addresses energy conservation and presents actual calculations to determine the most cost-effective light bulb.
Glynn County School System
Multi-Wavelength Astronomy
Take a look at astronomy through the light lens. From radio to gamma, light waves exist in every corner of the universe. An enlightening PowerPoint presentation gives an overview of the different categories of light and then discusses...
Exploratorium
Inverse Square Law
The inverse square law is revealed when your class participates in this activity. They move a graph paper or perfboard square back and forth in a square of light to see how the intensity changes. You will definitely want to add this...
Exploratorium
The Three Little Pig(ments)
Photocopy single-color images onto acetate transparencies and either demonstrate or have your class experience the combination of colors to produce images. Children will learn that cyan, magenta, yellow, and black combine to make all of...
Curated OER
How We See Things
In this science worksheet, students draw arrows, which represent light, on 2 pictures to show how the boy can see the book and the girl can see the picture. They draw arrows showing how light reflects off of mirrors so that the children...
Curated OER
UV Rays, sunscreen effectiveness
Students identify and define that invisible UV rays can be harmful. Then they explore the effects of UV radiation on objects that react UV rays and what products are most effective in blocking UV rays. Students also make predictions...
Curated OER
Using Bubbles to Learn about Light Interference
Students explore constructive interference and destructive interference. In this light travel activity, students follow procedures to discover how light waves travel and experience interference.
Curated OER
Imagers: The Adventure of Echo the Bat Number to Pictures: How Satellite Images are Created
Pupils examine the three primary colors of light and design a numerical code to represent those colors. They tell how satellites use numbers to create satellite images after completing a number of experimental activities.
Curated OER
Investigating Light
Learners study concepts associated with light. In this light lesson, students observe an demonstration by the teacher. They examine reflection and refraction of light and name things that reflect light and those that refract it. They...
BBC
Light and Shadows
Light is such an amazing thing! Elementary schoolers explore the wonderful world of light and shadow. The lesson is meant to be carried out on a whiteboard. Objects are placed in front of a light source, and learners must predict what...
American Museum of Natural History
How Did the Universe Begin?
The Big Bang Theory is more than a television show. Pupils read how Edwin Hubble observed other galaxies and noticed that the galaxies are moving away from each other. Scholars learn about the idea of the big bang and what happened next...
Curated OER
How We See Things
Learners explain that mirrors reflect light. They examine how when a beam of light is reflected from a surface, its direction changes.
Curated OER
Sun and Shadows
Why do shadows look different in the summer than in the winter? What causes day and night? How can a sundial be used to tell time? Answer these questions and more through two engaging lessons about light and shadows. Fourth and fifth...
Bowels Physics
Refraction and Lenses
Every object we see must pass through a lens, but how does each individual's lens differ? Learners explore the science behind refraction and lenses, uncovering the details that allow them to perform daily activities.
Curated OER
Teaching About the Ozone Hole
A PowerPoint and an accompanying worksheet introduce young meteorologists to the hole in the ozone layer. Another handout provides a coloring and graphing activity which examines the changes in the ozone. There are also links to...
Curated OER
The Science of Color and Light
Students listen to a story about colors and then conduct various experiments to determine how people see colors, identify which colors stand out best from a distance, show the results of mixed colored lighting and explain the phenomenon...
Curated OER
Reflection and Refraction
Life is only a reflection of what we allow ourselves to see. The lesson includes three experiments on light reflection, light refraction, projection, lenses, and optical systems. Each experiment builds off the ones before and...
NASA
Taking a Cold, Clear Look at the Universe
Take a look with another perspective. Pupils read to find out what portion of the electromagnetic spectrum a space telescope sees and the difficulties of viewing infrared radiation from other objects in space. Individuals discover how...
Colorado State University
Why Is the Sky Purple?
The color of the sky depends on the time of day. Young scholars experiment with scattering different wavelengths of light to recreate the color of the sky. They observe both the longer blue wavelengths and the shorter red and orange...
Colorado State University
Why Are Clouds White?
Is it possible to change the color of clouds? A three-part activity explores the scattering of light by the water droplets that make up clouds. After observing a demonstration, curious scholars conduct their own investigations of the...
National Academy of Sciences
Lights at Night Webquest
Help learners find ways to become more efficient energy consumers. To start, individuals research how different countries address energy efficiency and then analyze their own carbon footprint. They use their research to identify ways to...
Curated OER
A'planting We will Go
Germination is an amazing process that results in amazing things. The book The Tiny Seed is the inspiration for a set of activities that will help build early literacy, observation, language, and writing skills. The class observes how...
Curated OER
Reflection of Light and Mirrors
Students address common misconceptions concerning reflection, light and mirrors. They investigate light reflection in mirrors and determine how light is transferred to the eye. In addition, they make predictions and then test them...
Curated OER
Using Bubbles to Learn about Light Interference
Students explain the wave properties of light.