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Shine and Shadow
Light is a form of energy that affects all facets of our lives. In
this workshop we introduce what light is and how it behaves. To help
understand light, we will explore how shadows are formed, and the
role of light in seeing.
In particular, we will examine several big
ideas about light through watching second grade students explore light
and shadows, viewing light demonstrations, hearing fourth graders
talk about seeing, visiting with an astronomer, and listening to experts
talk about light. We will also ask you to think about your own ideas
about light and compare them with the scientific ideas.
Learning Objectives
Participants will understand that:
- Light consists of tiny packets of energy called photons.
- Light energy travels in straight lines until it strikes a surface.
- A shadow is formed when an object blocks the photons that are traveling
from a light source.
- Light travels fast, but not instantaneously.
- We see because light from a source is reflected from an object to
our eyes.
Standards
National Science Education Standards
K-4 standards:
- Light travels in a straight line until it strikes an object.
Light can be reflected by a mirror, refracted by a lens, or absorbed
by the object.
Content Standards: K-4: Physical Science: Light, Heat, Electricity,
and Magnetism
- Scientists develop explanations using observations
(evidence) and what they already know about the world (scientific
knowledge). Good explanations are based on evidence from investigations.
Content Standards: K-4: Science as Inquiry: Understandings About
Scientific Inquiry
5-8 Standards:
- Energy is a property of many substances and is associated with heat,
light, electricity, mechanical motion, sound, nuclei, and the nature
of a chemical. Energy is transferred in many ways.
Content Standards: 5-8: Physical Science: Transfer of Energy
- Light interacts with matter by transmission (including refraction),
absorption, or scattering (including reflection). To see an object,
light from that object—emitted by or scattered from it—must
enter the eye.
Content Standards: 5-8: Physical Science: Transfer of Energy
K-12 Standards:
- Although most things are in the process of becoming different —
changing — some properties of objects and processes are
characterized by constancy, including the speed of light, the charge
of an electron, and the total mass plus energy in the universe.
Changes might occur, for example, in properties of materials, position
of objects, motion, and form and function of systems. Interactions
within and among systems result in change.
Content Standards: K-12: Unifying Concepts and Processes: Constancy,
Change, and Measurement
- Models are tentative schemes or structures
that correspond to real objects, events, or classes of events, and
that have explanatory power. Models help scientists and engineers
understand how things work. Models take many forms, including physical
objects, plans, mental constructs, mathematical equations, and computer
simulations.
Content Standards: K-12: Unifying Concepts and Processes: Evidence,
Models, and Explanation
By the end of the 2nd grade, students should know that:
- A model of something is different from the real thing but can be
used to learn something about the real thing.
Common Themes: 11b Models: K-2
- One way to describe something
is to say how it is like something else.
Common Themes: 11b Models: K-2
By the end of the 8th grade, students should know that:
- Energy cannot be created or destroyed, but only changed from one
form into another.
The Physical Setting: 4e Energy Transformation: 6-8
- Models
are often used to think about processes that happen too slowly, too
quickly, or on too small a scale to observe directly, or that are
too vast to be changed deliberately, or that are potentially dangerous.
Common Themes: 11b Models: 6-8
- Different models can be used
to represent the same thing. What kind of a model to use and how
complex it should be depends on its purpose. The usefulness of a
model may be limited if it is too simple or if it is needlessly complicated.
Choosing a useful model is one of the instances in which intuition
and creativity come into play in science, mathematics, and engineering.
Common Themes: 11b Models: 6-8