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.

Here is a large collection of simple science class activities for understanding the physics of light.

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...

Simulation that shows the diffraction of light through single or multiple slits. Simulation allows modification of the number of slits, slit width, slit separation, and the wavelength.

Make your own rainbow candy in this fun STEM activity. You will do it without using any food coloring. Instead, you will use a light-bending phenomenon called diffraction.

Demonstrate light bending called diffraction in this activity.

An activity to demonstrate how light behaves when encountering an obstacle, in this case, wax blocks placed in a ripple tank. Includes an explanation of the diffraction that occurs.

Students will make their own spectroscope, learn how light is bent by a diffraction grating, and explore how various forms of light differ.

Instructional module focusing on the Silicate minerals. Discussion includes the most common minerals on Earth such as quartz, feldspar, mica, amphibole, pyroxene, and olivine. Site also includes an interactive practice quiz and links...

Analyze light by creating a CD spectroscope in this activity. See the whole spectrum of light with the spectroscope.

Provides a long list of physics formulas for easy reference.

This resource presents a cooperative learning activity where students can enhance their knowledge of light diffraction. This resource is in PDF form; requires Adobe Reader.

Instructions for making a scratch hologram. Includes interesting anecdotes, background information, and links to other holography sites.

Learn about the diffraction of light using the wave model and Huygen's principle.

A sound biography, focusing mainly on Bragg's science, what he discovered and what it's significance was. Lists many of his honors.

The discovery of radio waves, which was widely seen as confirmation of James Clerk Maxwell's electromagnetic theory and paved the way for numerous advances in communication technology, was made by German physicist Heinrich Hertz. In the...

Discusses the characteristics of sound waves and the conditions that affect the speed of sound.

Kids learn about the behavior of waves in the science of physics including reflection, refraction, diffraction, polarization, absorption, and interference.

This site has several lessons all about sound. It introduces sound, then covers major principles of waves and the wave equation. Each lesson has interactive activities to keep you interested, and there are even some test questions.

In this interactive tutorial students will learn about a few of the instruments used to further our knowledge of the Universe around us.

Read about the six experiments at the Large Hadron Collider: ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment), ATLAS (A Toroidal LHC ApparatuS), CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid), LHCb (Large Hadron Collider beauty), TOTEM (TOTal Elastic and...

This site from ScienceWorld provides a very short but factual biographical sketch of Thomas Young (1773-1829 CE) and describes his most notable scientific discoveries and contributions. Links are also provided throughout for additional...

In this interactive lesson about electromagnetic waves students will explore what they can see, what they can't, and what they know about the wave nature of this thing called "light."

Identify the composition of stars by applying the ideas of quantum theory. Investigate the field of spectroscopy, and examine the spectra of stars to locate the emission and absorption lines of hydrogen.