Bending Light

Did you know light can decrease visibility? Light pollution absolutely makes it more difficult to see stars. Scholars build a simple magnitude reader to determine the magnitude of stars. They use these data to estimate the impact of...

Your older elementary students investigate electromagnetic energy and the electromagnetic spectrum. They will observe 7 items represented in the electromagnetic spectrum and make a poster of all the things the items have in common. After...

Where does bad light end up? In a prism! The presentation covers light, mirrors, lenses, and the structure of the eye. It also provides explanations of reflection, refraction, concave and convex mirrors and lenses, and a comparison of...

Beam me up, Bill! Explore how beams of light behave when they strike flat and curved surfaces. Bill bends light using a nifty contraption that streams three beams through a straight and a curved piece of plastic. He also defines and...

Using a pinhole in an index card, learners of light find that it can be used as a magnifier. 

Kindle knowledge of how light travels by using this activity in your physical science curriculum. By setting up a candle flame or flashlight bulb and viewing it through a slit, observers of light see evidence of its wave characteristic....

Different colors of the spectrum travel at different speeds through media, causing them to refract at different angles—which allows humans to see their colors. Through a simulation, pupils see how air, water, and other media bend light....

Lights, shadows, action, and inquiry await your artistic scientists. They explore the way light travels, absorbs, reflects, and transmits through shadow play. They create folktale-inspired shadow puppets, explore the science of light,...

What is a watt? This tongue-twisting, mind-bending question and others are answered through this lesson on the different lighting options available. With the support of a PowerPoint, teach your physical science class about units of...

With a Florence flask or fishbowl, make a double convex lens and use it to examine an image. Because of the refraction, the image will be inverted. A simple explanation is provided here for you to share with your class as they...