DiscoverE
Laser Challenge
Help your class become laser focused on the connection between sound and light. Scholars set up mirrors to bend and direct lasers that are connected to a music source. Music should start playing when the laser hits the photoresistor.
California Institute of Technology
Physics of Light
Gummy bears are tasty, but did you know they are also used to determine color and light properties? Use the activity as a way to demonstrate light absorption, light reflection, and refraction with high schooler. Pupils conduct small...
NASA
Build a Relay Inspired by Space Communications
Learn how the professionals at NASA send information across space. Engineers use a microdevice, laser pointer, and mirrors as relays to model data transmission in space. Scholars program a microdevice to detect light received and test...
Curated OER
Delta, Delta, Delta
Students construct equilateral triangles and a 'laser' triangle. In this reflection instructional activity students build a retro-reflector using mirrors.
Curated OER
Pictures Please: Traveling Light
Students investigate how light travels. In this optic science lesson plan, students discover that light travels in a straight line through a laser pointer demonstration. Students also study how pinhole cameras work by considering how...
DiscoverE
First You See It, Then You Hear It
Light and sound go hand in hand. Pupils set up a system that will emit sound when a laser is directed at a photodiode. Various objects, such as a comb and talcum powder, allow for modulation of the laser beam. Individuals also...
It's About Time
Refraction of Light
Don't shine like a diamond, refract light like a diamond. Young scientists use an acrylic block and a laser light to observe refraction. Advanced scholars figure the sine of the angles of reflection and incidence as well as mastering...
It's About Time
Reflected Light
The lesson allows young scientists to use lasers and mirrors to study reflected light. A reading passage and homework question assess learning, while additional material introduces extension activities.
It's About Time
Curved Mirrors
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...
Exploratorium
Vocal Visualizer
Make sound visible with an activity that provides directions for how to build a vocal visualizer meant to create light patterns. Making noise into the visualizer causes a mirror to vibrate, reflecting a laser beam, and creating the...
Curated OER
Hot Air
Young scholars conduct an experiment to determine how hot air affect the path of laser. In this physics lesson, students explain why stars appear to twinkle at night. They discuss how light travels from space to Earth.
Cornell University
Diffraction Demystified
Study diffraction patterns using CDs and DVDs! Scholars measure the diffraction patterns of a light wave as it hits a CD or DVD. Using the information, they can measure the distance between the tracks.
Curated OER
"Jack and Jill" Microsoft Word Picture ID Unit
Using Microsoft Word and the blank "Jack and Jill" templates provided, class members find picture files of themselves and create a written photo ID document to be printed and lamented for the classroom. The lesson is divided into 4...
Cornell University
Light Waves: Grades 9-12
Explore the behavior of light waves with a lab activity. Scholars build new vocabulary through experimentation and observation. Using different mediums, they model reflection, refraction, transmission, diffusion, and scattering of light.
Ginger Labs
Notability
You'll want to take note of this app! Create custom notes that you can use to present and record information. Use the formatting options to make your notes look great, and the sharing options to keep your class up to date!
PHET
Mapping the Field of a Dipole Magnet
High school scientists build their own magnetometer and use it to map the field surrounding a bar magnet. Excellent background resources is included, as well as a diagram of how to build the magnetometer.
PHET
Mapping the Ambient Magnetic Field
No GPS allowed! High school scientists continue to explore magnetic fields with a hands-on activity. After mapping the ambient magnetic field in the classroom and completing data analysis, they write about the similarities and...
PHET
Soda Bottle Magnetometer
Introduce learners to set of complete instructions that describe how to build a magnetometer that works just like the ones professional photographers use to predict auroras. The diagrams are wonderfully descriptive, and the written...
Cornell University
Characterizing a Solar Cell
Young classes are sure to get a charge out of this lesson! Learners experiment with circuits of a solar cell. They practice determining current, voltage, and power for the circuit and maximize the voltage and current of the cell.
Curated OER
Super Gelatin
Students measure angles of refraction as the light travels through gelatin. For this experimental lesson students complete a refraction lab and plot their data.
Curated OER
Sound Vibrations
Students play their own straw kazoos and understand that vibrations are responsible for the sounds we hear. Additionally, they learn that sound vibrations can travel through different mediums. Students experience vibrations through...
Curated OER
Sound
Students identify sources and importance of sound, discuss sounds heard on way to school, explain why sound waves can be "seen", and participate in various classroom activities and experiments that illustrate how sound travels.
Curated OER
Sky Stories
Young scholars are introduced to the branch of science known as astronomy. They discuss stars and constellations and then view the night sky using a portable digital planetarium projector. They identify a variety of constellations and...
Curated OER
Stellar Navigation
Students are introduced to the concept of stellar navigation. Inside a portable digital planetarium they identify various stars that were used as a navigational tool. They go through several activities in which they attempt to identify...