Math, Science and Technology

• If you can darken your classroom completely, or take your class to a room with no windows, try the following. Discuss with the children what happens when the room light is turned off. Ask the class if the objects are still there, and then why is it that we don't see them. Turn the light back on and ask the children to close their eyes. Are the objects still there? Why is it that we don't see them? Emphasize the fact that both light and our eyes work together to allow us to see.
  
  
• Fill a glass with water and have the students look through it to the objects beyond. What do they notice? If possible, place the glass in sunlight so that a rainbow appears on the wall or floor. The glass is acting as a lens and bending the light.
  
  

• Explore the world of mirrors, especially the ability to see around corners with their help. Brainstorm with the children and make a list of all the mirrors they can think of in their home and car. Don't forget reflective surfaces such as spoons, toasters, kettles, etc. Classify these into flat mirrors and curved mirrors, and if the class is old enough, concave and convex mirrors.

  
  
  
• Set up a never-ending corridor with two large, opposing mirrors.
  
  

• Darken the classroom until the only source of light is one window. Have a group of children hold a magnifying glass near a wall opposite the window. Ask them to adjust the magnifying glass until they are able to focus the image of the window onto the wall. Send a student to stand in front of the window. What do the children notice about the window reflection?

  
  
  
• Outside, on a sunny day, with small hand mirrors, have the students try to catch the sunlight and reflect it onto the school wall. Then have them move the reflection across the wall.

Self and Society

• Have each student take a partner of similar size. One student will be the "leader" and the other the "mirror". The "leader" begins to move slowly, and the "mirror" imitates the "leader's" actions. Encourage the "mirrors" to observe carefully. After a few minutes, have the students switch roles. You could have half the class watch their fellow students and try to guess in each pair who is the "leader" and who is the "mirror".

Language

• Discuss with the children the difference between periscope, microscope, and telescope, and the reasons for using each of these articles. Discuss the places where you would find each one of these instruments, and the occupations of the people who might use them.

  
  
  
• Use a cross-section of the eye, or have the students look at each other. Discuss the iris, the pupil, the lens, the tear duct, the eyelash, and the eyelid. Ask the students if they know the part of their eye that resembles a magnifying glass.

The Arts

• Have students make a flip book as follows:
  Cut several sheets of paper into 10 cm x 7 cm rectangles. Staple the sheets together to make a booklet. Draw a stick man going through simple antics or a ball bouncing up and down. Flipping the pages will create a moving picture, or movie. The image is kept in our brain for a fraction of a second. Our brain joins up all the images to make a moving image. This phenomena is called persistence of vision.
  
  
• Focus a strong flashlight onto a white wall and show the children how to make shadow puppets with their hands. If they are old enough, have several pairs work out a story to tell with their shadow hand puppets.
  
  
• Set up a workstation in the classroom where the students can experiment with two rectangular purse mirrors taped together at 90o. They can move these over brightly coloured magazine pages, to see how the reflections create pleasing symmetrical patterns, or place buttons or small objects between the mirrors, to create a type of kaleidoscope. What happens if the angle of the mirrors is changed a little?
  
  

Go back to Looking at Light

For more information contact mhauser@technomuses.ca

Questions about school programs should be sent to scorbeil@technomuses.ca.