Unit Overview
Light (a form of energy) is a science topic that
involves some complex explanatory concepts that cannot
be understood by elementary age children. However,
children experience light-related phenomena all the
time, and by experimenting with a phenomenon like light,
elementary students can begin to understand that it can
be observed, measured, and controlled in various ways.
Some specific terminology should be introduced, but it
should be connected to concrete experiences, not just
memorized.
The relationship between vision and light is considered
a complex, middle school level concept. However, it is
introduced in the unit because most students are aware
that vision is at least somewhat light-dependent.
Likewise, students are not likely to truly understand
the composition of white light (made up of different
colored lights with different wavelengths), but they can
experience separating and combining colored lights and
begin to explore the phenomena. |
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Activity List
- Light and Vision
- Different Kinds of
Light
- Transparent,
Translucent, and Opaque Materials
- Shadows
- Reflective Surfaces
- The Angle of
Reflection of Light
- Mirror Images
- Introduction to
Lenses
- Concave and Convex
Lenses
- Using Prisms to
Explore Colored Light
- Mixing Colored Light
- Student Designed
Investigations
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Learning Objectives
Students
will know and be able to demonstrate that:
- We have sight because light
is reflected off of objects and to our eyes.
- We can see things only in
the presence of light.
- Light can come from a
natural or artificial (man-made) source.
- There are only a few sources
of light; much of the light that allows us to see things is
reflected light.
- Light travels in a straight
line.
- When light encounters an
object, it can go through the object, be stopped by it, or
something in-between (some goes through, some does not).
- When light it blocked or
partially blocked by an object, a shadow is formed behind
the object.
- When light strikes an opaque
surface, varying amounts of light can be reflected (bounced
back), depending on the characteristics of the surface.
- Light is reflected at a
certain angle (because light travels in a straight line).
- Images reflected from a flat
surface are realistic and right-side-up, but they are
reversed (left to right).
- Images reflected from curved
surfaces are usually distorted, depending upon where the
mirror is held in relation to the reflected object. An image
reflected from a concave surface is also upside down.
- A transparent or translucent
material with a curved surface can change an image seen
through the material.
- Concave and convex lenses
have different effects on the image that is seen through
them.
- Concave and convex lenses
bend (refract) light differently.
- When white light passes
through transparent materials with certain shapes, the light
can be both bent and “separated” so that we see several
colors of light.
- When this happens, the
colors and their order are always the same:
red-orange-yellow-green-blue-indigo-violet, and this
sequence of colors is called a spectrum.
- The three primary colors of
light are red, green, and blue; the secondary colors are
formed when any two of these are combined.
Students
will practice:
- Formulating questions on a
specific science topic and choosing the steps needed to
answer the questions.
- Collecting data for
investigations using scientific process skills including
observing, estimating, and measuring.
- Constructing charts and
visualizations to display data.
- Using data to produce
reasonable explanations.
- Reporting and displaying the
results of individual and group investigations.
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