What is light?

Introduction to Light: An Illuminating Day!

Students were very busy this week exploring the nature of LIGHT. Light is a form of energy that travels in waves. Different types of light have characteristic wavelengths. The electromagnetic spectrum includes all the possible wavelengths of light – those we can see and those we can’t! We see different colors because each color of light has a different wavelength. You may remember the mnemonic “ROY G BIV”, which helps remind people the order of colors in the rainbow. The students learned that short wavelength and high energy go together – x-rays and gamma rays are examples of light that has higher energy than visible light, and microwaves and radio waves have lower energy.

A series of activity stations helped reinforce the students’ understanding of the ways that light interacts with materials. They studied reflection, refraction, absorption and transmission of light, the differences between transparent, translucent, and opaque objects, and the different spectra (specific sets of wavelengths) produced by white light from different sources. Students worked to figure out which materials slowed light down by the same amount (at our refraction station), and saw colors seem to disappear when viewed through color filters (at our absorption & transmission station), and learned that not all white light is the same (at our spectra station).  Ask them about their observations!

 

Additional Information:

To examine the different light spectra produced by different light sources (incandescent vs. fluorescent bulbs, LEDs, and sunlight) make a spectrometer at home using this link: http://orbitingfrog.com/2008/07/02/make-your-own-spectrometer/

Two notes: 1) For safety, use folded aluminum foil instead of razor blades for the slit; 2) It’s helpful to score the CD with a blade (a job for parents) before breaking it, and to cover it with a towel while you snap it, to keep pieces from scattering. Once broken, the CD pieces are easy to trim with scissors.

Finally, we also shared a fun fact with the students regarding the Peacock Mantis Shrimp.  This crustacean can see in not just the visible light range like us, but can also see in the infrared and UV regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.  For another fun fact, it can punch through glass.  Check it out here!

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/worlds-deadliest/deadliest-mantis-shrimp

 

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