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Activity
Center of Science and Industry

Cosi Columbus: Two Lenses in One

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Investigate the behavior of a water filled vial, and discover why it acts like a magnifier. Includes full list of materials, procedures, and scientific explanation of what causes light rays to change direction.
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Website
University of Maryland

Optics Highlights: Optics, Electromagnetic Waves, Quanta

For Students 9th - 10th
Part of an anecdotal history on optics and the study of light. Extremely thorough treatment of the scientific evidence which led scientists to believe in the particle nature of light. Includes a short biographical sketch and discusses...
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Interactive
Physics Classroom

The Physics Classroom: Reflection and Mirrors: Optics Bench Interactive

For Students 9th - 10th
Find out about the physics behind those fun-house mirrors. Students manipulate a virtual optics bench to explore the images formed by mirrors and lenses.
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Interactive
Educaplus (Jesús Peñas Cano)

Educaplus: La Luz

For Students 9th - 10th
What do you know about light? Learn about it through this interactive site. At the end you can take a test to test your knowledge. A scientific calculator is also provided.
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Website
Pennsylvania State University

Penn State Graduate Program in Acoustics: Reflection From Mirrors

For Students 9th - 10th
Included here are illustrations of reflections from a plane mirror, a concave mirror and a convex mirror.
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Activity
Exploratorium

Exploratorium: Bubbularium

For Students 3rd - 8th
What colors do you see in a bubble? Why do you see colors in a bubble? Use this site to find out the answer to these questions with this easy experiment.
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Website
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

Ucar: About Rainbows

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from the University Corporation of Atmospheric Research provides an illustrated article about the phenomenon of rainbows.
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eBook
Physics Classroom

The Physics Classroom: Reflection/ray Model of Light: Mirror Portion Required

For Students 9th - 10th
A tutorial which demonstrates how ray diagrams can be used to determine what portion of a plane mirror must be used in order to view an image.
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eBook
Physics Classroom

The Physics Classroom: Reflection and Ray Model of Light: Ray Diagrams Concave

For Students 9th - 10th
In this physics tutorial, students investigate the method for drawing ray diagrams for objects placed at various locations in front of a concave mirror.
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eBook
Physics Classroom

The Physics Classroom: Reflection and Ray Model of Light: Spherical Aberration

For Students 9th - 10th
An illustrated physics tutorial which explains the spherical aberration, an intrinsic defect with any mirror that takes on the shape of a sphere.
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eBook
Physics Classroom

The Physics Classroom: Reflection/ray Model of Light: Convex Mirror Images

For Students 9th - 10th
Students explore three different ray diagrams for objects positioned at different locations along the principal axis in a convex mirror.
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eBook
Physics Classroom

The Physics Classroom: Reflection/ray Model of Light: The Mirror Equation Convex

For Students 9th - 10th
While a ray diagram may help one determine the approximate location and size of the image, it will not provide numerical information about image distance and image size. To obtain this, students are introduced to the Mirror Equation and...
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Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Determining Concentration

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Students quantify the percent of light reflected from solutions containing varying concentrations of red dye using LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT bricks and light sensors. They begin by analyzing a set of standard solutions with known...
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Interactive
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12 Exploration Series: Simulations: Physics: Prom Night

For Students 9th - 10th
[Free Registration/Login Required] Understand the Law of Reflection by plane mirrors and the formation of virtual images. Use the simulation to play with variables for a variety of reflections. Further examples explaining how mirrors...
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Whiteboard
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: What Is Albedo?

For Students 9th - 10th
When light strikes an object it can cause reflection or absorption depending on the wavelength of the light and the property of the material that makes up the object. Watch this whiteboard animation for a full explanation and to find out...
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Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Make That Invisible! Refractive Index Matching

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students determine the refractive index of a liquid with a simple technique using a semi-circular hollow block. Then they predict the refractive index of a material (a Pyrex glass tube) by matching it with the known refractive index of a...
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Unit Plan
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12: Polarization

For Students 9th - 10th
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Students understand the meaning of polarization and its mechanism and polarization by transmission and reflection.
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Interactive
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12 Exploration Series: Simulations: Physics: Diamond Cut

For Students 9th - 10th
[Free Registration/Login Required] A simulation investigating why a diamond shines by looking at refraction, reflection, and total internal reflection.
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Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Construct It!

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students use simple household materials, such as PVC piping and compact mirrors, to construct models of laser-based security systems. The protected object (a "mummified troll" or another treasure of your choosing) is placed "on display"...
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Unit Plan
BBC

Bbc: Gcse Bitesize: General Properties of Waves

For Students 9th - 10th
Light travels as waves. Waves can be described by their amplitude, wavelength and frequency. The speed of a wave can be calculated from its frequency and wavelength.
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Activity
Optical Society

Optical Society of America: Optics for Kids: Blue Sky Red Sunset

For Students 1st - 5th
An experiment where light is shone through a bottle of water, and then milk added, to see how this affects the path the light takes (with links to articles on reflection and refraction that explain what is happening).
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Unit Plan
Ministry of Education and Employment of Spain

Red Escolar: Perimetros

For Students 9th - 10th
In Spanish. This site has a simple explanation on how to find the perimeter of a plane figure. It also contains an activity of following the path of a light and a brief biography of Oenopides de Chios.
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Handout
Physics Classroom

The Physics Classroom: Blue Skies and Red Sunsets

For Students 9th - 10th
This high school resource shows how the blue of the skies and the red of the sunsets can be explained by the interaction of sunlight with atmospheric particles which causes scattering of light.
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Activity
NASA

Nasa: Genesis Kids: Roping Rainbows

For Students 3rd - 6th
Provides fun activities to do involving sunlight.

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