Curated OER
Fish Tank Optics: Learning How Light Travels
Students examine light waves and see how they travel. They explain that light moves in waves, which can bounce off of or go through materials. They use a flashlight to shine on a variety of objects.
Curated OER
E3 Project Instructional Plan: Light
Eleventh graders investigate the nature of light. In this physics lesson, 11th graders determine how light intensity varies with the distance of the light source.
Curated OER
Physical Science: Dying for a Tan?
Students assess how much harm UV radiation can have on your skin and how much protection is provided by sunblock, sunglasses and clothing. They experiment with UV index numbers and the amount of exposure risk of skin damage for any given...
Curated OER
Illuminating Climate Change: Connecting Lighting and Global Warming
High schoolers analyze energy usage and connect energy usage to fossil fuel consumption. In this global warming and pollution lesson plan, students what fuels are used to generate electricity and how much CO2 each fuel produces, then...
Curated OER
Light And Shadows
Fourth graders explore the properties of shadows. In pairs they trace each other's shadows in chalk and re-draw their shadow outlines every three hours, design their own shadow investigation, and complete various worksheets related to...
Curated OER
Excite the Night with a Look at the Moon
What better way to start a unit on space science than with a look at our beautiful moon?
Exploratorium
Touch the Spring
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.
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Arduino Blink Challenge
Emerging engineers read about Arduino software and how it can be used. Then they follow a nine-step tutorial to connect an Arduino board to a computer and put it to work! The objective is to code a program that will cause an LED to...
American Institute of Physics
Optics and Anthony Johnson
Message sending has come a long way since the days of Morse code's dots and dashes. Young scientists study the research of optical physicist Anthony Johnson and his work in fiber optics, lasers, and the principle of total internal...
Curated OER
Albedo and Irradiation of Surfaces
Here is a physical science activity where pupils place thermometers inside of a white and a black paper pocket and place them under a lamp. They record and compare the temperature increase over a ten-minute period. Have your class...
Curated OER
Too Bright at Night?
Students reflect upon the causes and effects of light pollution in the night skies. First, they read articles provided and then do worksheets that are provided. They work in groups to discuss their conclusions.
Curated OER
Sensing Energy: Designing to Stay Cool
Students examine the energy the sun produces on a daily basis. In groups, they discover the properties of visible and invisible light. They also adjust the exposure time to change the properties of various objects. To end the lesson,...
Curated OER
Urban Heat Islands: An Introduction to Energy Transfer and Transformation
Elementary school physical scientists explore kinetic mechanical energy by dropping a golf ball on different surfaces. They discuss how human made materials might react to light differently from nature made materials. This lesson plan...
Curated OER
Super Gelatin
Students investigate the refraction properties of gelatin to calculate its index of refraction. They discover that as the light travels through the gelatin, its speed and wavelength also change. Students find th indes of refraction of an...
Curated OER
Energy Worksheet #1
A graph of Earth's average monthly temperatures from 1990 to 1994 is posted across the top of the page for meteorology masters to analyze. Five multiple choice questions are asked regarding temperature variation. This does not have to be...
Curated OER
Splash
Learners work together to enhance their communication and problem solving skills. They move a cup of water from a tarp to a higher surface using nothing but pieces of yarn. In addition, they reflect on the lab experience.
Curated OER
Frozen Film
Students discover how light reflects off surfaces. In this hands-on demonstration, students examine how variations in color are produced by light interference.
Curated OER
Electromagnetic Waves
In this electromagnetic waves worksheet, students review the different types of electromagnetic waves. Students also compare and contrast light and sound waves. This worksheet has 10 fill in the blank, 5 multiple choice, and 6 short...
Curated OER
Changing Your View
In this refraction worksheet, students will explore the property of light called refraction. Students will conduct a quick experiment to understand how light is refracted. Then students will complete 2 short answer questions.
Curated OER
Radiation From Space
For this space worksheet, students will review different aspects of light, sound, and radio waves in space and the use of different types of telescopes. This worksheet has 17 fill in the blank statements.
Curated OER
How We See Things
Students study light. In this lesson on light, students discuss how flat and angled mirrors reflect light and draw a picture showing how a mirror reflects light into an eye.
Curated OER
Lighten Up!
Third graders observe light as a form of energy, that it can be reflected/bounced, refracted/bent and absorbed. They explore how different types of light affect our lives as a whole. Songs are researched that involve light (ex. "You...
Curated OER
Reflected Light and the Moon
In this moon worksheet, students draw the different moon phases and name them. Students review why the moon has phases. This worksheet has 6 fill in the blank and 4 short answer questions.
Curated OER
How We See Things
In this science instructional activity, 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...