Activity
Other

Siemens Science Day: Physical Science: Through the Looking Glass

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students will make their own spectroscope, learn how light is bent by a diffraction grating, and explore how various forms of light differ.
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Technicolor Shadows: Lessons in Light and Color

For Students 9th - 10th
Is that right side of your brain yearning to express its artistic side? This is a project that blends art with science. Learn about light and colorful shadows in these experiments where you mix and match various colors of light to create...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: How Does Color Affect Heating by Absorption of Light?

For Students 9th - 10th
Light is an example of an electromagnetic wave. Electromagnetic waves can travel through the vacuum of interstellar space. They do not depend on an external medium-unlike a mechanical wave such as a sound wave which must travel through...
Unit Plan
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12: Physical Science: Reflection of Light

For Students 4th - 5th
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Considers the reflection of light from both smooth and rough surfaces and the law of reflection.
Website
Physics Central

American Physical Society: Physics Central: Discover Homepage

For Students 9th - 10th
Link to nine major physics topics and dig deeper into the content. Find out about the work of scientists in each field and see example physical science experiments.
Unit Plan
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12: Physical Science: Color

For Students 9th - 10th
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Overview of the different colors in visible light and how they relate to its wavelength, how a prism separates visible light into its different colors, the colors of...
Unit Plan
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12: Physical Science: Law of Reflection

For Students 7th - 9th
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Reflection and how it produces an image, regular and diffuse reflection and the law of reflection.
Website
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Career Profile: Power Distributors and Dispatcher

For Students 9th - 10th
Science Buddies profiles careers you perhaps never even considered. Do you know what a power distributor and dispatcher does? Someone has to control the flow of electricity along the transmission lines to be sure nothing takes the power...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Measuring Light Intensity Using the Inverse Square Law

For Students 9th - 10th
You've probably heard that compact fluorescent light bulbs are more efficient than incandescent bulbs. More of the electricity they use goes into producing light, and less into producing heat than with incandescent bulbs. How much more...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Using a Laser to Measure the Speed of Light in Jello

For Students 9th - 10th
Think it takes expensive, sophisticated equipment to measure the speed of light? Think again. Outfit yourself with a simple handheld laser pointer, a protractor, and Jell-O, and you're ready to get started.
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Measuring the Speed of 'Light' With a Microwave Oven

For Students 9th - 10th
In this experiment, you will measure the speed of light using a microwave oven, some egg white, and a ruler. This short project proves to be an extremely interesting choice for a science lab, with pictures for illustration, and thorough...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Using Laser Pointer to Measure Data Track Spacing on C Ds, Dv Ds

For Students 9th - 10th
You've probably noticed the colorful patterns "reflecting" from the shiny surface of a CD disk. What you are seeing is actually diffraction of white light, and the rainbows of color are diffraction patterns. In this project you'll learn...
Unit Plan
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12: Physical Science: Artificial Light

For Students 7th - 9th
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] What artificial light is and five different types, and how each type produces visible light.
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Measuring Sugar Content of a Liquid With a Laser Pointer

For Students 9th - 10th
Here's a project that shows you how to use a laser pointer and some knowledge of physics to figure out the concentration of sugar dissolved in a liquid.
Activity
Sophia Learning

Sophia: Physics: Bill Nye: Bending Light

For Students 9th - 10th
Created to teach students of the 21st century, SOPHIA is bringing science experiments straight to your fingertips. Become the commander of your own learning experiences as you take part in this interactive experiment.
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Project Ideas: How to Make an Aircraft Invisible to Radar

For Students 9th - 10th
In this engineering science fair project, students will determine which 3-D geometric shapes scatter light the most. The Science Buddies project ideas are set up consistently beginning with an abstract, objective, and introduction,...
Article
Creative Science Centre

Creative Science Centre: A Voice on a Sunbeam

For Students 9th - 10th
Here is described a simple process to 'put a voice on a sunbeam' and transmit it over a distance. It is a fascinating example of amplitude modulation of light using sound vibrations. It then describes how the modulated light is detected...
Activity
American Museum of Natural History

American Museum of Natural History: Ology: See the Light

For Students 3rd - 8th
Reflection, refraction, and the colors that make up white light is explored through lab activities after reading a brief background about light energy.
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Absorption of Radiant Energy by Different Colors

For Students 6th - 8th
In this science fair project, use an infrared thermometer to measure the temperature of differently colored paper exposed to sunlight, and calculate energy emission using the Stefan-Boltzmann equation. Find discussion questions, a list...
Unknown Type
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: The Refraction of Light Through the Human Eye

For Students 9th - 10th
This five-question quiz relating to refraction of light in the human eye.
Unit Plan
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12: Physical Science: Sources of Visible Light

For Students 7th - 9th
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Definition of visible light and what incandescence, luminescence and illumination are and how they occur.
Unit Plan
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12: Physical Science: Refraction

For Students 7th - 9th
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Refraction of light in matter and how light changes its speed and angle of refraction according to the type of medium it is travelling through.
Unit Plan
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12: Physical Science: Wave Interactions

For Students 7th - 9th
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Ways that waves can interact with matter and examples.
Interactive
American Association of Physics Teachers

Com Padre Digital Library: Open Source Physics: Schwarzschild Light Wavefront

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Apply the Schwarzschild metric to the paths light travels when it radiates in every direction near a black hole. Adjust the position of the light source and observe the effective potential of the paths.