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Lesson Plan
Other

National Engineers Week Foundation: Hearing the Light

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students learn how laser communication systems are built by observing how sound can be encoded into, and transmitted by a light beam.
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Handout
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Mit: Inventor of the Week: Robert Hall

For Students 9th - 10th
A bio on this important 1960's inventor who provided the world with the semiconductor injection laser, a purification of germanium and much more - most of which is still in use today.
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Lesson Plan
University of Texas at Austin

The University of Texas Mc Donald Observatory: Delta, Delta, Delta

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students learn abouT the Law of Reflection by constructing an equilateral triangle using graph paper, pencil, protractor, and a ruler and a "laser triangle" using a laser pointer and front-silvered mirrors.
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Article
Famous Scientists

Famous Scientists: Steven Chu

For Students 9th - 10th
Find out about Steven Chu who is known for his research in cooling and trapping of atoms with laser light, which won him the Nobel Prize in Physics.
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Activity
Read Works

Read Works: Einstein in Time

For Students 5th
[Free Registration/Login Required] This four-page PDF nonfiction passage entitled "Einstein in Time" features a timeline of Einstein's life. It is part of Paired Texts: "Everyday Einstein - Lasers" and "It's All Relative" (See link above...
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Website
Synopsys

Synopsys: Learn About Optics

For Students 9th - 10th
Highly informational optic site for kids provides everything one might want to know about light. Various topics include light basics, controlling light, lenses, complex lenses, what's cool about lasers and much more!
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Unit Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Laser Light Properties: Protecting the Mummified Troll!

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students learn and use the properties of light to solve the following challenge: "A mummified troll was discovered this summer at our school and it has generated lots of interest worldwide. The principal asked us, the technology classes,...
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Activity
Read Works

Read Works: Tag! You're Hit!

For Teachers 8th
[Free Registration/Login Required] A literary text about two boys who want to throw a birthday party for a friend. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
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Handout
National Inventors Hall of Fame

National Inventors Hall of Fame: Samuel Blum: Far Ultraviolet Procedures

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about Samuel Blum, inventor of the laser technique used in LASIK eye surgery. This page includes a bio and a brief explanation of how Blum discovered that lasers could be used in surgery.
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Handout
National Inventors Hall of Fame

National Inventors Hall of Fame: James J. Wynne: Far Ultraviolet Procedures

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about James J. Wynne, co-inventor of the laser technique used in LASIK eye surgery. This page includes a bio, an overview of the invention's impact on the medical world, and a portrait of Wynne.
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Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Mn Step: Reflection Race: Exploring Reflection of Light

For Teachers 9th - 10th
An interesting and engaging activity where students work in groups with a laser pointer and small mirrors. They must use their knowledge of angles of reflection to bounce the laser beam from mirror to mirror until it hits a target at the...
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Article
Other

Physics Web: Nobel Prize Goes to Semiconductor Pioneers

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from Physics Web gives information on the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics. It was awarded to Zhores Alferov and Herbert Kroemer for the invention of semiconductor lasers, integrated circuits and other high-speed electronic devices....
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Unit Plan
University of Colorado

University of Colorado: Ph Et Interactive Simulations: Optical Tweezers and Applications

For Students 9th - 10th
Did you ever imagine that you can use light to move a microscopic plastic bead? Explore the forces on the bead or slow time to see the interaction with the laser's electric field. Use the optical tweezers to manipulate a single strand of...
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Interactive
University of Colorado

University of Colorado: Ph Et Interactive Simulations: Wave Interference

For Students 9th - 10th
Make waves with a dripping faucet, audio speaker, or laser. Add a second source or a pair of slits to create an interference pattern.
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Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Tower O' Power

For Teachers 9th - 10th
In this activity, students learn about creating a design directly from a CAD (computer-aided design) program. They will design a tower in CAD and manufacture the parts with a laser cutter. A competition determines the tower design with...
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Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Learning Light's Properties

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students learn the basic properties of light--the concepts of light absorption, transmission, reflection and refraction, as well as the behavior of light during interference. Lecture information briefly addresses the electromagnetic...
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Activity
Discovery Education

Discovery Education: 3 M Young Scientist Lab: Gelatin Optic Fibers

For Students 3rd - 8th
Strips of gelatin dessert and a laser pointer demonstrate total internal reflection.
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Handout
Georgia State University

Georgia State University: Hyper Physics: Holography

For Students 9th - 10th
A definition and explanation of holography. Explains the process of making holograms and discusses the history and properties of holograms.
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Unit Plan
University of Colorado

University of Colorado: Physics 2000: Bec: What Is It?

For Students 9th - 10th
This is an understandable tutorial which guides the viewer through the innovations which led up to the verification of Bose-Einstein Condensation (BEC) in 1995. Follow the "Next," link at the bottom of the page to explore the following...
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Website
BBC

Bbc News: Q&a: Germ Warfare

For Students 9th - 10th
Read these questions and answers by BBC News Online about biological weapons, the threat of germ warfare, and the politics involved as of 2001. Includes many links to appropriate articles and related information.
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Website
Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Science Education Center

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Various middle school science resources from the Smithsonian Institution.
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Website
Johns Hopkins University

Applied Physics Laboratory: Messenger Home

For Students 9th - 10th
Home page for NASA's Discovery Program Messenger to the planet Mercury. Site provides details of the planned mission, its experiments and the science and management teams. Linked Quicktime animation files are very large and detailed....
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Website
Other

University of Virginia: How Things Work

For Students 6th - 8th
A site maintained by A. Bloomfield, the author of "How Things Work: The Physics of Everyday Life." You can read old questions or ask Bloomfield your own. Great explanations of everyday physics.
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Article
Nobel Media AB

The Nobel Prize: Bose Einstein Condensation in Alkali Gas [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
This 14-page document contains advanced information about Bose-Einstein condensation, providing historical background for the topic and explaining how BEC was demonstrated in 1995 by research laboratories. Requires ."pdf," software to...

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