Other
Open School Bc: Sound and Light
The Sound and Light interactive investigates these two forms of energy. Students will enjoy exploring how sound and light are created, travel, and can be controlled.
Utah State Office of Education
Utah Science: Properties and Behaviors of Heat, Light and Sound
How can scientists lump heat, light and sound together when investigating properties and behaviors? This learning module will address that question through a series of activities.
Optical Society
Optical Society of America: Optics for Kids: Blue Sky Red Sunset
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).
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...
Walter Fendt
Walter Fendt: Apps Zur Physik
This site, in German, offers numerous apps that illustrate common physics principles. Apps are organized into categories: mechanics, oscillations and waves, electrodynamics, optics, thermodynamics, the theory of relativity, physics of...
Cosmo Learning
Cosmo Learning: Physics Iii: Vibrations and Waves
A collection of video lectures from a physics course focusing on vibration and waves taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The course overviews topics dealing with mechanical vibration and waves with twenty-three lectures....
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Physical Science: Reflection of Light
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Considers the reflection of light from both smooth and rough surfaces and the law of reflection.
University of Colorado
University of Colorado: Ph Et Interactive Simulations: Bending Light
Manipulate variables and measure angles as light is refracted in this interactive simulation.
Utah Education Network
Uen: Enlightening Explorations, Part Ii
This lesson engages students in learning about light. Studets will describe how light is produced, reflected, refracted, and separated.
American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History: Ology: See the Light
Reflection, refraction, and the colors that make up white light is explored through lab activities after reading a brief background about light energy.
Utah Education Network
Uen: I'm So Bright! I Wear My Shades Indoors!
This instructional activity engages students in learning about light through multiple sources. Students will learn how light is produced, reflected, refracted, and separated. Students will communicate their findings through an...
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Wave Properties
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Students investigate behaviors of waves, including interference, reflection, refraction, and diffraction.
Discovery Education
Discovery Education: 3 M Young Scientist Lab: Gelatin Optic Fibers
Strips of gelatin dessert and a laser pointer demonstrate total internal reflection.
University of New South Wales (Australia)
University of New South Wales: School of Physics: Physclips: Geometrical Optics
Physiclips thoroughly presents geometrical optics concepts like rays, refraction, Snell's law, total internal reflection, dispersion, mirrors, and lenses with animations and film clips.
ClassFlow
Class Flow: What Is Light?
[Free Registration/Login Required] This flipchart reviews the characteristics of light and its properties. Students are given examples of reflection, refraction, and lens types. An assessment component is included.
University of Colorado
University of Colorado: Ph Et Interactive Simulations: Bending Light
Explore bending of light between two media with different indices of refraction. See how changing from air to water to glass changes the bending angle. Play with prisms of different shapes and make rainbows.
Georgia State University
Georgia State University: Hyper Physics: Crossed Polarizers
At this univeristy physics department site, the polarization of light is explained and illustrated. Methods for analyzing light to determine the degree of polarization are stated and explained with equations.
BBC
Bbc: Gcse Bitesize: General Properties of Waves
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.
Physics Classroom
The Physics Classroom: The Nature of a Wave
A very good introduction to the world of waves. Waves and wavelike motion, what is a wave, and categories of waves are the topics examined in this site. Many links to other wave sites.
Optical Society
Optical Society of America: Optics for Kids: Guiding Light Optical Fiber
This experiment demonstrates the concept of total internal reflection, using basic materials. Accompanied by a detailed explanation of what's happening, and links to articles on reflection and refraction.
Physics Classroom
The Physics Classroom: Light Waves and Color: Thin Film Interference
Students investigate an example of interference that provides further evidence in support of the wavelike behavior of light.
Physics Classroom
The Physics Classroom: Light Waves and Color: Wavelike Behaviors of Light
In this series of interactive physics tutorials, students will focus on the wavelike nature of light.
Other
Easyphysics: Chapter 10 Light Waves
Learners investigate light waves. Some topics examined are reflection of light, illuminance, and refraction of light. The resource includes example problems with solutions and a chapter quiz.
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Physics: Geometric Optics Study Guide
Learn and understand geometric optics with this review resource.