Curated OER
Applied Science - Technology (5A) Lab
Fifth graders explore electromagnetic waves and light. In this light lesson, 5th graders draw the parts of a wave of the electromagnetic spectrum. They compare a flashlight to a laser to see how the light looks when shined through...
Curated OER
Pinhole Viewer
Learners make a pinhole viewer to demonstrate how it inverts light passing through it which produces inverted images.
Curated OER
Applied Science - Physics (5B) Post Lab
Fifth graders analyze optical images. in this optical lesson, 5th graders look at how light reflects and refracts. They discuss different types of lenses and how they change the picture that is taken.
Curated OER
A Distant View
Young scholars investigate the essential concepts of how lenses work to magnify vision, and then build simple telescopes to demonstrate their understanding. They write a description of how their telescope could be improved and how it works.
Curated OER
Building a Telescope
Pupils construct a simple refracting telescope. They calculate the magnification.
Curated OER
Exploring Microscopes
Students explore the parts of a microscope. In this microscope lesson plan, students examine simple and compound microscopes. Students discover how the parts of a microscope work together to generate an image.
Curated OER
The Virtual Electron Microscope
Learners explore the world of the very small using a Flash plug-in Virtual Electron Microscope. They complete and discuss an activity in which unknown samples are placed under the computer simulated microscope to determine where the...
Curated OER
Reflection & Refraction
In this online interactive reflection and refraction worksheet, students respond to 7 multiple choice and fill in the blank questions regarding the information included in the provided paragraphs.
Curated OER
Microscopes and Telescopes
Students analyze a microscope and study what they do. In this investigative lesson plan students study how microscopes were first invented, and how ray diagrams are used in conjunction.
Physics Classroom
The Physics Classroom: Refraction and Ray Model of Light: Refraction by Lenses
Students use this tutorial to investigate the refractive ability of converging and diverging lenses.
My Science Site
Mirrors, Lenses and Your Eyes
This resource explores the science behind light and how mirrors reflect it. Also contains information on lenses both convex and concave.
Physics Classroom
The Physics Classroom: Refraction and the Ray Model of Light: Anatomy of a Lens
Illustrated diagrams in this tutorial help students understand the properties and functions of lenses.
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Plix Series: Double Convex Lens: Convex Lens
[Free Registration/Login Required] Change the focal point in this interactive convex lens to see how the focal length changes. After the activity, answer a challenge question to check for understanding.
Ducksters
Ducksters: Physics for Kids: Lenses and Light
Kids learn about lenses and light in the science of physics including concave, convex, converging, diverging, focal point, meniscus, and Plano lenses.
Optical Society
Optical Society of America: Optics for Kids: Lens Activity
An investigation into how lenses behave. Students explore using convex and concave lenses in various ways and record their observations. They are then are directed to another site to try activities where they can manipulate virtual lenses.
Optical Society
Optical Society of America: Optics for Kids: Shimmering Lenses
An experiment using Jell-O to create lenses, to see how light behaves with flat, concave, and convex lens surfaces. With an explanation of what is observed, and a link to an informative article on lenses.
Physics Classroom
The Physics Classroom: Refraction and the Ray Model of Light: Converging Lenses
An illustrated tutorial which takes students step-by-step through the process of drawing ray diagrams.
ClassFlow
Class Flow: Introduction to Light
[Free Registration/Login Required] This flipchart introduces fifth graders to the science of light. Principles such as transparent, translucent, opaque, reflection, and refraction are covered. Concave and convex mirrors and lenses are...
Georgia State University
Georgia State University: Hyper Physics: Thin Lens Equation
This is an informative site from Georgia State University. It gives a discussion of the thin lens equation and an illustration of its use in determining the image distance based upon the object distance and the focal length.