Download Light Kit Student Concepts/Objectives per Lesson

Light Kit Student Concepts/Objectives per Lesson
L1. Thinking about Light. Concepts/Objectives
1. In this lesson, students make observations and touch on concepts they will encounter
in more depth in later lessons. Students are not expected to fully grasp these concepts at
this lesson; these are the concepts encountered:
Light is a form of energy
Light travels through space
Energy can be transformed from one form to another
Various colors can be produced by the additive color mixing of red, green and blue
Reflection occurs at plane and curved mirrored surfaces
Different mirrored surfaces produce different images
Refraction takes place at interfaces between transparent materials
The brain-eye system can produce optical illusions
2. Kit Objectives for this lesson:
Identify light as a physical phenomenon that can be studied
Focus on some of the characteristics and behavior of light
Discuss their own ideas about the behavior of light and compare with others
Follow instructions to perform a circuit of inquiry
Record qualitative observations
Write down ideas that would explain what they think is happening in each inquiry
Identify questions they have about light
Practice safe and appropriate lab behavior
L2. Where does light come from? Concepts/Objectives
1. Concepts to understand:
Light is produced by a variety of sources
Light is one form of energy. Energy exists in many forms.
Energy can be transformed from one form to another.
Light is produced as a result of energy transformation
The energy transformations involved in the production of light vary according
to the source of light
Light can be transformed into other forms of energy
2. Kit Objectives for this lesson:
Compare their ideas about the nature of light
Identify different sources of light
Examine a flashlight and a lit candle to determine how each produces light
Discuss the production of light as the result of energy transformation
Discuss light as a form of energy
Determine that light can be transformed into other forms of energy
Identify and discuss a variety of energy transformations
L3. How does light travel? Concepts/Objectives
1. Concepts encountered:
Light is invisible unless detected
Detection of light requires its interception by matter
Light travels in straight lines
Light spreads out as it moves from a light source
Light moves very fast
2. Kit Objectives for this lesson:
Detect light as it travels through air and water
Observe that light spreads out as it moves away from its source
Devise an inquiry that tests the hypothesis that light travels in straight lines
Discuss the speed of light and suggest how it can be determined
L4. How light spreads out. Concepts/Objectives
1. Concepts encountered:
The area illuminated by a light source increases with the distance of the area from
the source
The apparent brightness of a light decreases as the distance between the light
source and the surface illuminated (or a detector) increases.
2. Kit Objectives for this lesson:
Investigate whether the appearance of a light source depends on a person’s
distance from the source.
Measure and predict the area illuminated by a light source at different distances
from the source.
Determine a relationship between the area illuminated by a light source and the
distance of the area from the source.
Recognize and explain the relationship between the area illuminated and the
apparent brightness of the light source.
L6. The Pinhole camera Concepts/Objectives
1. Concepts encountered:
The image produced by a pinhole camera is reversed and inverted
Images produced by pinhole cameras can be explained in terms of light rays
traveling in straight lines
2. Kit Objectives for this lesson:
Construct a pinhole camera
Use a pinhole camera to make observations
Compare the image observed through a pinhole camera with the image observed
by the naked eye
Use a ray diagram to explain how a pinhole camera forms an image
Observe and explain the images produced when the length of a pinhole camera is
extended and the size and number of pinholes are increased
L9. Color Wavelength and the Wider Electromagnetic Spectrum. Concepts/Observations
1. Concepts encountered:
Waves have wavelength, frequency and amplitude
Color can be explained as the way different wavelengths of light are perceived
The sequence of colors in the visible spectrum is related to wavelength
An invisible electromagnetic spectrum exists with wavelengths that are shorter
and longer than the wavelengths of visible light
Invisible electromagnetic waves have many characteristics in common with
visible light
2. Kit Objectives for this lesson:
Measure the wavelength of a wave
Model different wavelengths of light
Discuss and model the relationship between color, wavelength, and frequency
Discuss the invisible electromagnetic spectrum
Devise simple experiments to compare some of the characteristics of visible light
and infrared
L10. Examining Spectra. Concepts/Objectives
1. Concepts encountered:
Different light sources produce different spectra
The spectrum produced by a luminous object is determined by the wavelengths of
light emitted by the object
Spectroscopy can be used as an analytical tool
Subtractive color mixing takes place when colors are removed from mixtures of
different wavelengths of light
2. Kit Objectives for this lesson:
Build a spectroscope and use it to examine light from different sources
Observe and draw spectra produced by different light sources
Discuss how spectroscopy is used
L14. Introducing Mirrors. Concepts/Objectives
1. Concepts encountered:
Visible objects that are not light sources reflect light but only those with very
smooth surfaces act as mirrors
The image produced by a plane mirror is upright
The image produced by a plane mirror is reversed front to back (not reversed left
to right)
The distance between an object and the reflective surfaces of a mirror is the same
as the distance between the apparent position of the image in the mirror
and the reflective surface of the mirror
L14. continued:
2. Kit Objectives for this lesson:
Observe and discuss the reflections of light from a white screen, a silvered
(mirrored) surface and a half-silvered surface
Compare an object with its image in a plane mirror
Determine, through observations and measurements, that the image seen in
a mirror appears as if it is actually located behind the mirror
Compare the distance of an object from a mirror with the apparent position of its
image behind the mirror
Predict the appearance of a mirror image
Describe the features of an image formed in a plane mirror
L15. How is light reflected? Concepts/Objectives
1. Concepts encountered:
Plane mirrors reflect light
A ray of light striking and reflecting from a mirror can be divided into two parts:
an incident ray and a reflected ray
The angle of incidence and the angle of reflection have the same value. This is
referred to as the “Law of Reflection”.
Light can be reflected from one mirror to another
The image seen in a plane mirror is a virtual image. Virtual images can be
explained using the “Law of Reflection”.
2. Kit Objectives for this lesson:
Observe the reflection of rays off a plane mirror
Recognize the angle of incidence, the angle of reflection, and the angle of normal
Measure the angles of incidence and reflection
Construct a “law of reflection” based on data collected
Predict angles of incidence and reflection
Use multiple mirrors to divert the path of a light ray
Construct and explain the operation of a simple periscope
L16. Bending Mirrors. Concepts/Objectives
1. Concepts encountered:
Mirrors can be classified as plane, convex, or concave
Convex mirrors form upright, reduced images
The nature of the image formed by a concave mirror depends on the distance of
the object from the mirror
Parallel rays on a convex mirror reflects off in divergent directions; while parallel
rays on a concave mirror reflect off in initially convergent directions
2. Kit Objectives for this lesson:
Observe the images produced when a flexible mirror is bent
Identify and describe concave vs. convex mirrors and mirrored images
Use terms to explain the reflection of rays off a convex mirror and a concave
Mirror; then list some examples of curved & concave reflective surfaces
L17. Introducing Refraction. Concepts/Observations
1. Concepts encountered:
Incident light can be reflected from and/or transmitted by a transparent block
The direction of a light ray may change – be refracted – when it travels from one
transparent material to another
The angle and change in direction of light as it passes from one material into
another depends on the composition of each material
The angle and change in direction of light as it is refracted depends on the
direction the light is travelling when passing from one transparent material
into another
2. Kit Objectives for this lesson:
Discuss how light interacts with different materials
Make observations through a rectangular transparent block
Observe the behavior of light rays after they strike the surface of and pass though
Identify incident, reflected, refracted, and emergent rays and their angles to the
normal
Describe the difference between reflection and refraction
L23. Dissecting a camera. Concepts/Objectives
1. Concepts encountered:
A camera is an optical device consisting of a number of components
Focus, exposure, and aperture (opening size to lens) play important roles in
taking a photograph
2. Kit Objectives for this lesson:
Identify the components form which a camera is constructed
Discuss the role of focus, exposure, and aperture in taking a photograph
L24. Animal Optics. Concepts/Objectives
The eye is a light detector and the receptor for the sense of sight
Several optical components in the eye work together to detect light and focus an
Image
Compare eye parts to camera parts
Investigate the role of two eyes and the brain in judging distance and providing
depth perception
Describe the difference between detection of an image by the eye and the
perception of that image by the brain.
Consider the nature of visual perception in organisms (and observe optical
illusions)