Activity
Curated OER

Reflection and Refraction

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
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...
Activity
American Museum of Natural History

See the Light

For Students 6th - 12th
It's time to see the light! Scholars perform three different experiments with light to reveal properties using a great remote learning resource. The pupils see how light reflects from a surface and refracts through different materials....
Activity
Exploratorium

Bridge Light

For Teachers 8th - 12th
An illuminating activity demonstrates how interference of light waves creates a pattern. Using Plexiglas™ and construction paper, participants see rainbows appear as they twist or press against the plastic plates. After the activity, you...
Activity
Exploratorium

Soap Film Painting

For Teachers 9th - 12th
If you are up for constructing a wooden frame, you can do this demonstration of the interference patterns when light reflects off of layers of soapy film. Both constructive and destructive interference can be seen as evidenced by the...
Activity
Exploratorium

Corner Reflector

For Teachers 5th - 7th
If you set up a triad of mirrors into a corner figuration, they act as a kaleidoscope, bouncing light waves back and forth indefinitely, changing the light that your eyes perceive. Although the materials required are very specific and...
Activity
It's About Time

Reflected Light

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
The lesson allows young scientists to use lasers and mirrors to study reflected light. A reading passage and homework question assess learning, while additional material introduces extension activities. 
Activity
It's About Time

Refraction of Light

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Don't shine like a diamond, refract light like a diamond. Young scientists use an acrylic block and a laser light to observe refraction. Advanced scholars figure the sine of the angles of reflection and incidence as well as mastering...
Activity
G. Turrell

Science Activity 2: Light & Sound

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Little learners experiment with sunlight and map out how light travels. Using a mirror and slotted card, they find out about items that can reflect or absorb the light. They experiment with a variety of materials to find out how light...
Activity
Exploratorium

Laser Jello

For Teachers 7th - 10th
The concepts of refraction and reflection gel with your physical science class during this colorful exploration. Shining lasers through Petri-dish-shaped gelatin desserts, they will notice how the light travels and bounces off the sides....
Activity
Centervention

A Gratitude Jar for Kids

For Teachers K - 12th
A jar becomes a symbol of gratitude in an activity that challenges scholars to reflect on themselves. Learners decorate a jar to add a touch of personalization. Once ready, prompts offer participants a question or sentence frame that...
Activity
Exploratorium

Antigravity Mirror

For Teachers 5th - 9th
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? It's super student! Physical science stars can fly during a unit on light as they see the reflection of one leg in a mirror, behind which the other holds them up. 
Activity
Exploratorium

Give and Take

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Heat-sensitive liquid crystal sheets are available in a variety of sizes and temperature ranges. Purchase a class set of hand-held sheets and color half of each with a silver permanent marking pen. Learners of light can hold them under a...
Activity
Exploratorium

Cylindrical Mirror

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Using flexible mirror-like paper, physical scientists experiment with images produced by curving it and looking into its reflective surface. They find that concave mirrors cause reflected light waves to cross and actually flip the image...
Activity
Exploratorium

Polarized Sunglasses

For Teachers 8th - 10th
Reflected waves of light move within a plane, and because of this, polarizing materials can reduce the glare our eyes see. This resource explains how to set up a demonstration of this effect. Consider it for use in your physical science...
Activity
Exploratorium

Parabolas

For Teachers 9th - 12th
A parabolic mirror toy demonstrates how concave mirrors objects reflect light and produce a realistic image at their focal point. This resource probably doesn't explain any more than the printed insert that accompanies such an apparatus...
Lesson Plan
Scholastic

Lesson Three: The Earth, Movement in Space

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
If you feel like you're standing still, you're wrong! The Earth is constantly rotating and orbiting under our feet. Demonstrate the Earth's movement within the solar system with a collaborative activity. With a candle or lamp in the...
Activity
Discovery Education

Through the Looking Glass

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Turning white light into colors only takes a little scientific know how! Young scholars create their own spectroscope in a hands-on activity exploring the properties of light. Using a diffraction grating, they discover how white light...
Activity
1
1
Teaching Tolerance

Reflection: What’s Your FRAME?

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Encourage your class to recognize the diversity in the beliefs and backgrounds of their peers. Learners use the acronym FRAME to consider culture, background, and life experiences.
Activity
Teach Engineering

When Silicon Talks

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Explore Snell's Law using thin films. In the fifth installment of a seven-part series, pupils solve a set of problems relating to Snell's Law and use this skill during an experiment requiring the collection of reflective measurements...
Activity
Exploratorium

Touch the Spring

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Concave mirrors and the images they produce are traditional topics in the physics classroom. This resource explains how to set up an investigation of them, and it provides you with the explanation of concepts.
Activity
Exploratorium

Bird in the Cage

For Teachers 5th - 9th
When your life science class is learning about the eye and how it works, you can add this activity as a demonstration of how the retina holds an afterimage. After staring at a red, green, or blue bird shape, pupils glance at a cage and...
Activity
Exploratorium

Hot Spot

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Not only does a concave mirror focus light waves, it can also concentrate infrared radiation into a hot spot. If you have a small electric heater and such a mirror, demonstrate this for your physical science class.
Activity
North American Montessori Center

Sun and Moon Autumnal Equinox Activities

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Two hands-on activities celebrate the sun and moon autumnal equinox. First, scholars create a cairn using a shoebox, flashlight, and drawing tools to view the sun's progression. Second, learners take to the kitchen to bake mooncakes...
Activity
Exploratorium

Vocal Visualizer

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Make sound visible with an activity that provides directions for how to build a vocal visualizer meant to create light patterns. Making noise into the visualizer causes a mirror to vibrate, reflecting a laser beam, and creating...

Other popular searches