Needing Illumination – Investigating Light
Figure 1. Light bends, or refracts, as it moves through calcite, as shown by text that appears twice.Copyright Museum Victoria, http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/scidiscovery/ light/wavepart.asp
Students learn the five words that describe how light interacts with objects: transparent, translucent, opaque and refraction. This is the first lesson of this unit to introduce light. Lessons 1-5 focus on sound, while 6-9 focus on light.
Being able to see is crucial for many things that we do everyday. Engineers and scientists have created lighting devices to help us see in the dark. Lighting engineers design the illumination systems in the places we live and work. Without their expertise, our day-to-day sight could be worse (than it might already be) due to poor lighting conditions and eye strain. Their understanding of how light works enables engineers to create new types of lighting and design light bulbs and fixtures that are more energy efficient and easier on our eyes.
After this lesson students should be able to:
- Explain reflection and refraction.
- Give examples of something that refracts light and something that reflects light.
- Provide a basic explanation of the following terms: transparent, translucent and opaque.