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Activity
Exploratorium

Far Out Corners

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Construct a three-dimensional optical illusion when your class is exploring vision and how the eye and brain work together. Three concave corners are mounted inside of a black box, but as a light is shined upon them, they appear to be...
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Activity
It's About Time

Curved Mirrors

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Discover concave and convex mirrors using a laser light. Scholars experiment with real and virtual images before reading a handout and completing homework questions. Included extensions greatly benefit learners, so take advantage of the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Incoming Solar Radiation

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Demonstrate how the spherical shape of the Earth contributes to unequal heating of its surface and results in varying climates at different latitudes. This would be an illuminating addition to your meteorology lessons, especially when...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Solar Car Series: Angle/Energy Amount

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Does the angle of a solar panel change the output? Emerging engineers find out! Demonstrate for your class how they can angle a straw to match the angle of light rays coming from a source. Then turn them loose to experiment with the...
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Activity
Museum of Science

Circuit Board

For Teachers K - 6th
Light up the solutions. By following a set of directions, pupils build a circuit board with six different circuits. Learners use the circuit board to create a matching activity by connecting the questions to the correct answers via a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Color and Spectrum

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Learners examine the spectra of light sources that have similar colors.  In this light lesson plan students complete an activity using various lights in the classroom and discuss the colors and the heat generated. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Photosynthesis

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students conduct a variety of experiments on photosynthesis. In this biology lesson, students identify the factors required for the process to occur. They perform computerized experiments to test the amount of oxygen produced when plants...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How We See Things

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students investigate how mirrors reflect light. In this reflection lesson, students draw the path of the light reflected from a mirror. Students construct a list of objects that are light sources.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lunar Lollipops

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students work with a partner, Styrofoam ball and light source to simulate the positions of the Earth, Moon and Sun at various stages during the phases of the Moon. They describe why the Moon is visible from Earth and complete a worksheet.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Modeling Hot and Cold Planets

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students, in teams, design and construct models of two planets, one hot and the other cold, using a variety of materials. They attempt to create the models out of substances that will actually show the greatest temperature differences...
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Activity
Exploratorium

The Three Little Pig(ments)

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Photocopy single-color images onto acetate transparencies and either demonstrate or have your class experience the combination of colors to produce images. Children will learn that cyan, magenta, yellow, and black combine to make all of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

To See or Not to See: The Colors of Light

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders describe and conduct an experiment that identifies the physical properties of light. They explore sources of visible light and an electromagnetic spectrum. Students explain the conversion of one form of energy to another.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What things let Light Pass Through?

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders classify objects according to how well light can pass through them and predict how well objects will transmit light. They experiment with objects to verify predictions while collecting, recording, and interpreting data...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What is Light?

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Young scholars explore different types of light, and demonstrate reading comprehension skills, including reading strategies, inference, literal meaning, and critical analysis.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Learning From Leaves: Adaptations To Differing Light Levels

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Young scholars, in groups, examine plants with different light levels. They are given plants from a tropical and desert region. They write a hypothesis at the beginning of the experiment.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Remote Sensing and the Electromagnetitc Spectrum

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders conclude that each color of the spectrum has a different amount of thermal energy by measuring temperature with a thermometer. They infer that there is an invisible band of the spectrum by measuring temperature beyond the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Tread Lightly: Our Changing Climate

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students examine the concept of climate change. In this environmental studies lesson, students research Internet and print sources regarding global warming and discuss their research findings as well as their impressions.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Design Project: LED Stroboscope

For Students 11th - Higher Ed
In this physics worksheet, students design and build an electrical circuit using LED as a light source. They complete 2 short answer questions about their design.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

science: Light Up the Ocean

For Teachers K - 12th
learners investigate light levels under the ocean by conducting several simulations. After creating solutions representing seawater, they shine a light sensor on it to discover how light diffuses and is absorbed by the impurities in the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Labs from Chicago, Summer 1993: Calibrating the Sun's Light

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students experiment with the luminosity of the Sun's light. In this luminosity lesson, students participate in an experiment with luminosity of the sun and flashlights. They make filters and fiber optic sources.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Light

For Teachers K - 4th
Students observe how light can be reflected, refracted, and absorbed. In this light lesson, students discover that light travels in a straight path. This lesson contains a "bonus" activity that explains how to make a kaleidoscope.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Light and Shadows

For Teachers 1st - 3rd
Students participate in an online lesson to determine how light travels from a source, and to explain that shadows form when light travelling from a source is blocked.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Light and Angles

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students work together in groups to test light and how it reflects at different angles. They create their own hypothesis and answer questions given to them by their teacher. They complete the experiment at home and test if it changes the...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Curious Science: Magnetism

For Students 4th - 6th
In this online interactive science worksheet, students respond to 3 multiple choice questions about magnetism and its functions.