The Direction of Light Can Be Changed with a Mirror

Essential ideas:

·  Light is a form of energy

·  The direction of light can be changed with a mirror

·  Light can be bent using a lens

·  Objects absorb light and we see color

·  The speed in which an electron moves affects the color we see.

·  The speed of light differs from the speed of sound

Essential questions:

·  How do different materials affect how light is transmitted?

·  How does light compare to sound?

·  How do you see your image in a mirror?

·  What affects the speed of light and where does it travel the quickest?

·  Why do we see objects as different colors?

·  What does a picture of a light wave look like?

·  What is white light? In which part of the electromagnetic spectrum would we find white light?

Light Vocabulary:

Prisms – a solid of various shapes made from a transparent material such as glass that allows light to travel through, but bends the waves.

Electromagnetic energy – a combination of electric and magnetic energy. The combination of these particles give off different wavelengths that include radio waves, x-rays, microwaves, radar, infrared, ultraviolet, gamma rays and, the only electromagnetic wave we can see, visible light.

Electromagnetic waves – waves of electromagnetic energy

Electromagnetic spectrum – the range of electromagnetic energy from radio waves to gamma rays.

Visible light – the part of the electromagnetic spectrum that people can see. Each different wavelength of light in the visible light section of the spectrum has a different color.

White light – a mixture of all these colors in the spectrum that when seen through our eyes, we see it as white light.

Words to be familiar with:

Radio waves (see pgs 84 & 85 of Science Explorer Sound and Light book for terms below.)

Microwaves

Infrared rays

Ultraviolet rays

X-rays

Gamma rays

Hertz – a measurement of the frequency of electromagnetic waves

Polarizing filter/glasses

Light Vocabulary:

Transparent material – something that allows light to pass through allowing you to see what’s on the other side (ex: clear glass, water, air)

Translucent material – something that allows some light to pass through (ex: wax paper, frosted glass)

Opaque material – something that absorbs or reflects all light(ex: wood, metal, fabric)

Reflection – the bouncing back of a wave,

Absorb – to take in, or receive, energy

Words to Be Familiar With:

Concave mirror – a mirror with a surface that curves inward

Convex mirror – a mirror with a surface that curves outwards

Refraction – the bending of waves as they enter a different medium (solid, liquid, gas)