100 Educational Activities about Light and Photonics
Learn about the wonders of light and photonics by using these 100 educational activities.
All activities have been curated by Silvia Simionato and Pedro Russo from the Universe Awareness Programme (UNAWE) based at Leiden University within the framework of The International Year of Light in Europe 2015 Project (LIGHT2015).
Anti-Gravity Mirror
Age: 6+
Learning Objectives
Learn about the law of reflection and make people think that you are flying using a big mirror.
Comments
Introduce the law of reflection before performing this activity.
Link: http://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/anti_gravity/index.html
Credits: exploratorium.edu
Bending Light
Age: 6+
Learning Objectives
Learn how to make a lens and how our eye manipulates the light that enters it.
Comments
This is a simple model of our eye.
Link: http://www.optics4kids.org/home/content/classroom-activities/medium/bending-light/
Credits: optics4kids.org
Bird in the Cage
Age: 6+
Learning Objectives
Understand how our eyes work and that we see color when receptor cells (called cones) on our eye's retina are stimulated by light.
Comments
Before performing the activity explain what an afterimage is, what cones are and how they work.
Link: http://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/bird_in_cage/index.html
Credits: exploratorium.edu
Black is Black — Or is it?
Age: 6+
Learning Objectives
Learn that the black pigment (ink in this case) is actually made up of many different colours.
Comments
While exploring the chromatography, the concept of capillary action (how water moves up paper) is introduced. A similar activity is "Black Magic (Color Chromatography)".
Link: http://www.optics4kids.org/home/content/classroom-activities/easy/black-is-black-%E2%80%94-or-is-it/
Credits: optics4kids.org
Creating Eclipses in the Classroom
Age: 6+
Learning Objectives
Explore these fascinating natural phenomena with an easy-to-build model. Learn about the movement of the Sun, the Earth and the Moon and how sun light is related to them.
Comments
Adult supervision is needed for children.
Introduce and explain the concept of eclipse before performing the activity.
Link: http://www.unawe.org/activity/eu-unawe1302/
Credits: UNAWE
Construction of the Planetarium Box
Age: 6+
Learning Objectives
Learn about the most famous constellations and build a different box for each of them.
Comments
For help see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constellation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/88_modern_constellations
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_constellations_by_area
Credits: globeatnight.org
Coloured Shadows
Age: 6+
Learning Objectives
Learn the concept of shadow and of additive colour,that is how different colours of light can interact and mix to produce various new colours and coloured shadows.
Comments
Connect with the fact that many of the current video displays use the concept of additive colour, where three different colours of light are combined in order to produce a wide range of colours. The primary colors often used are red, green, and blue (RGB).
Try to mix together also coloured pigments in order to see the differences and discuss the results and see this activity http://www.ehow.com/ehow-mom/blog/at-home-science-color-mixing-experiment/.
Link: http://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/colored_shadows/
Credits: exploratorium.edu
Detecting IR light using a CCD
Age: 6+
Learning Objectives
Learn about the different components of the light and discover that some of them are invisible to our eyes. Prove the existence of IR light and detect it thanks to a webcam or camera phone.
Comments
Before doing the activity explain that white light is composed by different colours, some of them are visible and other invisible. Explain that remote controls for devices like televisions, cable boxes and DVD players typically operate in the infrared. On the front of the remote is a light emitting diode (LED) that produces light in the infrared region.
Link: http://www.optics4kids.org/home/content/classroom-activities/medium/detecting-ir-light-using-a-ccd/
Credits: optics4kids.org
Exploring Pinhole Images
Age: 6+
Learning Objectives
Construct a pinehole camera in order to learn how light behaves and how light rays pass through a small hole.
Comments
Explain that light rays move in straight line.
Useful to explain how our eyes work and also on what principles photography is based.
A connection with technology can be made, see the activity "Create a Pinhole Camera".
Link: http://www.osa.org/osaorg/media/osa.media/Membership/Explorations-in-Optics-July-2103.pdf
Credits: OSA
Giant Lens
Age: 6+
Learning Objectives
Understand the law of refraction and how magnifying glasses work using a large page-magnifier lens.
Comments
CAUTION: Don't use the sun! The image you make can become so hot that it can burn the paper, and so bright that it can damage your eyes.
Discuss the fact that the lens creates an image that hangs in midair. Notice that the lens also creates upside-down images of distant objects and right-side-up images of nearby objects.
Link: http://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/giant_lens/index.html
Credits: exploratorium.edu
