Curated OER
How Do You Light Up Your World?
A tremendous presentation on the properties of light. Young scientists are treated to slides which share a lot of fascinating information about light. This impressive PowerPoint is filled with great photos, graphics, and discussion...
Curated OER
Lesson 3 - Lighting Design
The final lesson in a series on theatre design spotlights how lighting is incorporated into a production. After watching videos that focus on lighting fixtures and their positioning, individuals create a basic design plan for a scene,...
National Gallery of Canada
The Camera Obscura
You can create a camera with even the most unassuming materials. Learners view photographs and talk about the art. Some background information is included about the camera obscura for you to present before individuals make their own...
National Gallery of Canada
Shadow Chasers!
Experiment with light and shadow with a photography lesson. Learners first view several artistic photographs. They then play with different levels of light and various objects, eventually putting together compositions and taking pictures...
National Gallery of Canada
Make a Pinhole Camera
Introduce your class to photography by asking them to construct their own pinhole cameras. After putting together their own devices, pupils take and develop pictures and analyze the results. The plan provides step-by-step instructions...
National Gallery of Canada
Surprising Sun Prints
Here comes the sun! Composition, shapes, and the properties of light are the focus of this bright lesson. Class members examine art and then create sun prints using photosensitive paper and various objects of different shapes and sizes....
Curated OER
How Light Can "Bend"
Examine the properties of light with a fifth grade science experiment. Pupils find out how light bounces off the surface of a mirror, as well as how a periscope works. For the science investigation part, kids build their own periscope...
Curated OER
Shadows & Light, Science & Puppetry
Lights, shadows, action, and inquiry await your artistic scientists. They explore the way light travels, absorbs, reflects, and transmits through shadow play. They create folktale-inspired shadow puppets, explore the science of light,...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Light Is
Young scholars explore the properties of light. In this light lesson, students investigate visible light by viewing a website, examining an electromagnetic spectrum chart, and observing light demonstrations. Young scholars write about...
Curated OER
Reflect and Refract
Young scholars explore light. In this properties of light lesson, students define the terms refract, reflect, and diffract after listening to the teacher's description. Young scholars listen to the book Light Magic and observe a spoon in...
Curated OER
Light
Students examine how light waves travel. In this properties of light instructional activity, students observe how light travels in water, how light is reflected and refracted, and how light is pure energy.
Curated OER
How to Make a Kaleidoscope
Sixth graders create a kaleidoscope. In this light refraction lesson, 6th graders create a kaleidoscope to investigate the properties of light.
National Geographic
National Geographic: Seeing Is Believing
In this lesson, students investigate the properties of light using simple materials. Includes handout and video resources.
Exploratorium
Exploratorium: Science Snacks: Physics/light
Here is a large collection of simple science class activities for understanding the physics of light.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Stations of Light
Student groups rotate through four stations to examine light energy behavior: refraction, magnification, prisms and polarization. They see how a beam of light is refracted (bent) through various transparent mediums. While learning how a...
Optical Society
Optical Society of America: Exploring the Science of Light: Easy Activities
A collection of simple experiments for exploring the basic properties of light and color.
Optical Society
Optical Society of America: Exploring Science of Light: Intermediate Activities
A collection of intermediate experiments, for students aged ten and up, for exploring the magnification, reflection, and refraction of light.
Optical Society
Optical Society of America: Exploring the Science of Light: What Is Optics?
A collection of tutorials and interactive resources, from basic to advanced, that explain concepts related to the science of light.
Exploratorium
Exploratorium: Pinhole Magnifier
For elementary students, this would be a great demonstration on properties of light and optics. For middle school and high school, this would be a great start to a lab but needs experimentation. Site by Exploratorium.
Scholastic
Scholastic: Study Jams! Science: Light Absorption, Reflection, & Refraction
A video and a short quiz on the properties of light.
E-learning for Kids
E Learning for Kids: Science: Denmark: What Are Light and Darkness?
In this module, students learn about the different sources of light, what causes darkness, and about shadows.
Optical Society
Optical Society of America: Optics for Kids: Exploring the Science of Light
A collection of information on the science of light and optics. Features a wide variety of resources: key events in history, reference materials, multimedia links, optical illusion activities, glossary of optics terms, and information on...
Math Science Nucleus
Math/science Nucleus: Light Magic
This animation discusses light and the properties of light in a storybook format. The animations cover the colors of the rainbow (ROYGBIV) along with prisms, light waves, reflection, and refraction.
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: First Grade Science: How Do I See?
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Explores sources and properties of light and its effect on seeing.