At a glance
Light and Lasers is a 60 or 75 minute workshop for grades 1, 8 and 9. Students handle a spectroscope, white and ultraviolet light, optical fibre, a prism, mirrors and lasers to understand what light is made of, how fast it travels and its many forms.
What is light? What hides behind white light? How does a laser work?
Visible and invisible light, what light is made of, its speed, its strength and its many forms: students explore it all by handling a spectroscope, white and ultraviolet light, optical fibre, prisms, mirrors and lasers. Hidden light and secret light: what is hiding in a passport, or in the whiteboard remote?
They’ll come out dazzled!
Learning goals (elementary)
- Understand what light is made of (photons).
- Know the primary colours of light.
- Identify different sources of light.
- Observe how a light ray (laser) behaves.
- Recognize hidden light (infrared and ultraviolet).
Learning goals (secondary)
- Define light as a form of radiant energy.
- Define wavelength as the distance between two identical points of a wave at a given moment (for example, between two crests).
- Place different regions on the electromagnetic spectrum (for example, radio, infrared, visible light, X-rays).
- Describe the relationship between wavelength and energy (for example, high-energy X-rays have a short wavelength).
- Describe how light rays are reflected by a flat mirror.
- Describe how light rays bend as they pass through a convex or concave translucent material.
