Strand IV:
Standard 4:
– All students will explain shadows, color, and
other light phenomena.
Benchmark 3: Explain how light is required to see objects.
Constructing and Reflecting:
SCI.I.1.1
- Generate scientific questions about the world based on observation.
•
Construct questions for each of the investigations suggested below to guide the design of the investigation.
SCI.I.1.2
- Design and conduct scientific investigations.
•
Experiment with mirrors to predict where a reflected beam will fall.
•
Experiment with lenses to show how refraction is used to focus light.
SCI.II.1.3 - Show how common themes of science, mathematics, and technology apply in real-world contexts.
Vocabulary / Key Concepts
•
light source
•
object
•
eye as detector
•
illumination
•
path of light
•
reflection
•
absorption
Context
•
seeing common objects in our
environment
• seeing “through” transparent media:
−
windows
−
water using flashlights to see in the dark

Knowledge and Skills
Students will demonstrate an understanding of how light is required to see objects. When an object reflects light waves it is said to be illuminated. In order to see these objects, the light waves travel in a straight path and is received by the eye. A red sheet of paper appears red because red light is reflected off the paper, while all other colored light (orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet) is absorbed by the paper. An object can be seen because of emitted or reflected light.
(Example: red object reflects red light) In a
“perfectly dark” room, an object cannot be seen because no light is reflected.
Resources
Coloma Resources
Temperature probes & lab pro’s
Laptop to measure white and black paper
(See attached Lab sheet)
Other Resources:
•
Science Explosion: Waves and Vibrations
•
Bill Nye: Eyeball, Light/Color, Light/Optics,
Sound, Waves
•
Michigan Teacher Network Resources
•
The Why Files – Why is the Sky Blue?
•
Exploratorium (why is the sky blue?)
•
Exploratorium
•
Cow Eye Dissection (online) – AWESOME!
Videoconferences Available
For more information, see www.remc11.k12.mi.us/dl or call Janine Lim
471-7725x101 or email jlim@remc11.k12.mi.us
IV.4.MS.3
Art + Science: Photography from The Cleveland
Museum of Art
20/20 Science from COSI Toledo
Wave Watch from the Louisville Science Center
Vision, Light & Color from the National Science
Center
6 th
Grade Science Curriculum
Technology Resources
IV.4.MS.3
Explain how light is required to see objects.

Instruction
Focus Question: What must happen to light in order to see objects?
Take a shoebox and cut a 6.0 cm (2.5 inch) square door in one side of the box and a peep hole in the other. With the door closed, ask the students what they see. With the door open, ask what they see then. Put a small object in the box. Have one student open and close the door while the other discovers what is in the box. Through repetition, the students will discover that they can see only when light is present.
Probing questions:
1.) Describe what you see when the door is closed?
2.) Describe what you see when the door is open?
3.) Explain why there is a difference in student observations from question #1 and question
#2.
Respond to the following prompt:
Coal miners wear helmets with lights. Explain why the light is necessary.
Assessment
Optional Assessment
Students will work in small groups and conduct the following investigation to answer the question, “Which color paper reflects light the best?”
Have the students hypothesize what will happen when light is shone on a white sheet of construction paper, and a black sheet of construction paper and projected on a white screen (white paper or cardboard). See diagram. screen flashlight
________________________
construction paper
A. As seen in the diagram, a white screen (made of white cardboard or paper) should be placed on the table at an angle.
In a darkened room:
B. Observe how a black sheet of paper reflects light by shining a flashlight on a piece of black construction paper lying flat on the table.
C. Observe how a white sheet of paper reflects light by shining a flashlight on a piece of white construction paper lying flat on the table.
D. Students should repeat this procedure with different colored sheets of paper.
The students will then run the investigation, record their results and answer the following questions:
1) In which situation is the screen brighter and why?
2) In which situation is the screen dimmer? Why?
3) What must happen to light in order to see an object? (describe the path)
Students will record their results in lab reports and answer the following questions:
1. Which color light reflects the most light?
2. Which color paper reflects the least light?
3. What must happen to light in order for a human to see an object (describe the path)?
NOTE: If you were to replace the screen in the diagram with an observer, this activity would explain correctly how the reflection of light off an object results in the observer’s ability to see that object.

Assessment (Continued)
Scoring Rubric for Assessment Activity:
(give students rubric prior to activity)
Criteria: Accuracy of explanation :
Apprentice - Identifies white as brightest and black as dimmest but gives only partial explanation.
Basic Identifies white as brightest and black as dimmest but only explains one of them.
Meets Identifies white as brightest because it reflects more light and black as dimmest because it reflects a little light and absorbs most.
Exceeds - Identifies white as brightest and black as dimmest with a correct explanation and describes the image on the screen as diffused and explains why.
Criteria: Accuracy of description — path of light:
Apprentice - Identifies few parts of the path of light needed to see an object and uses few key terms correctly.
Basic Identifies some part of the path of light needed to see an object and uses some key terms correctly.
Meets Identifies all parts of the path of light needed to see an object and uses many key terms correctly.
Exceeds - Identifies all parts of the path of light to see an object and uses all key terms correctly.

Teacher Notes:
•
Light travels in a straight line until it strikes an object. “To see an object, light from that object – emitted by it or scattered from it – must enter the eye. Light interacts with matter by transmission (including refraction), absorption, or scattering (including reflection).” (NSES) Transmission occurs when light moves through an object, which can be either transparent or translucent. Refraction occurs when light traveling through an object is bent into a new direction. Objects are magnified by microscopes, telescopes, etc. when light from the object is refracted and focused in lenses.
Focus Questions
•
How is light needed to see?
•
What can happen to light when it strikes different objects, such as mirrors, glass, lenses, translucent materials, etc.?
Notes
The state benchmarks are very deliberately constructed to take students through these topics sequentially and developmentally. For example, students do not talk about sound and light as waves until the high school benchmarks – they only look at vibrating objects and mechanical waves such as those in slinkies or on water in middle school. They recognize sound as produced by vibrations at the elementary level; they study the motion of vibrating objects at the middle school level; and they apply the concepts of vibrations to sounds at the high school level.