This video segment adapted from FRONTLINE introduces the electromagnetic spectrum and explains how the various types of electromagnetic waves are distinguished by the amount of energy each wave carries.

In this lesson, the electromagnetic spectrum is explained and students learn that visible light makes up only a portion of this wide spectrum. Students also learn that engineers use electromagnetic waves for many different applications.

Visible light waves are the only electromagnetic waves we can see. We see these waves as the colors of the rainbow. Each color has a different wavelength. Red has the longest wavelength and violet has the shortest wavelength. When all...

[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Summarizes the key points about electromagnetic waves and how they are classified. Includes a few questions to check for understanding.

[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Students learn what an electromagnetic wave is, gain a feel for the main parts of the spectrum, and work on problems involving basic properties of electromagnetic...

Explains what electromagnetic energy is, the history of its discovery, some terms used when talking about it, and gives some facts about it.

Light is an example of an electromagnetic wave. Electromagnetic waves can travel through the vacuum of interstellar space. They do not depend on an external medium-unlike a mechanical wave such as a sound wave which must travel through...

In this interactive activity adapted from the University of Utah's ASPIRE Lab, students will investigate frequency in terms of trampoline jumps, pendulum swings, and electromagnetic waves.

Students will classify waves as mechanical or electromagnetic. Students will describe longitudinal and transverse waves. Students will show a transverse wave using a slinky.This lesson plan was created as a result of the Girls Engaged in...

Investigate the science of radio astronomy, and create a model of a curved reflecting dish that will work like the Arecibo detector to detect electromagnetic waves. Explore risk using a risk space grid.

"How Do We Know Light Behaves as a Wave?" An answer is provided in this discussion of the polarization of light and the use of Polaroid filters in sunglasses. The four methods discussed on this page are: polarization by transmission,...

A detailed discussion of the nature of light, how it can travel through a vacuum, and how the speed of light is affected when light travels through a medium.

In this introduction to light energy, students learn about reflection and refraction as they learn that light travels in wave form. Through hands-on activities, they see how prisms, magnifying glasses and polarized lenses work. They also...

In this very detailed lesson plan from NASA, students investigate wavelength and frequency within the electromagnetic spectrum.

A faraday cage is an important tool for some scientists at the MagLab. But they don't work with it: they work inside it.

[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Students investigate the fundamentals of light including its source, how it is defined for measurements, how we perceive color, and the situations that make an...

Here is a large collection of simple science class activities for understanding the physics of light.

A brief description of supernova remnants with many embedded links to help define terms used in the description. The specific topics are age and the importance of remnants to us and the types. Definitions of key words are provided.

In this experiment, you will measure the speed of light using a microwave oven, some egg white, and a ruler. This short project proves to be an extremely interesting choice for a science lab, with pictures for illustration, and thorough...

Practice questions over infrared and ultraviolet/visible spectroscopy questions.

In this activity, students make simple spectroscopes (prisms) to look at different light sources. The spectroscopes allow students to see differing spectral distributions of different light sources.

Describes the characteristics of light, presents two formulas for calculating its wavelength, and provides a table of the different wavelength ranges across the electromagnetic spectrum.