Searching for Water on the Moon
Lesson 6: Seeing in the Dark
Learning Goals/Objectives
PREVISIT ACTIVITY
“Space Explorers Trading Cards”
or “Space Exploration Timeline”
5E MODEL
Engage
To understand where ultraviolet waves lie on the electromagnetic
spectrum
To understand that scientists can detect a variety of substances
using ultraviolet light
To explore samples of materials that are not easily seen by the
naked eye
Activity Overview
GRADE LEVEL
Middle School
NSES STANDARDS
(National Science Education
Standards)
A, B, D
PREPARATION
Estimated Preparation Time:
60 minutes
Estimated Lesson Time:
1 or 2 class periods
MATERIALS
 Student Science Notebooks
 Search for Lunar Water DVD
 Several black lights (one for
each group of students)
 Black T-shirt or cloth squares
 White T-shirt or cloth squares
Any or all samples of the following:
 Tonic water
 Laundry detergent
 White paper
 Vinegar
 B-12 tablets
 Highlighters
 Teeth whitener paste
 Antifreeze
 Toothpaste
Students will use an ultraviolet light to search for materials that
cannot be seen with the naked eye. Students will make connections
between their explorations and the LAMP technology used to detect
water on the moon’s surface. Students must have learned about the
electromagnetic spectrum (Lesson 5) before starting this lesson.
Advance Preparation
1. Prepare liquid samples of several of the substances on the
materials list. If the substance is solid, dilute it in water. Place
several drops of the liquids on a white fabric scrap. You can get
creative and make patterns for students if you wish.
2. Cut several squares from a black T-shirt, or other black
material, that has been washed and dried in the dryer. This
should leave lint particles on the black material that are difficult
for students to see with a naked eye.
3. Obtain at least one black light for each group of students.
Black lights can be purchased for under $10 at
http://blacklightonline.us/
Teacher Background
There are many everyday materials that fluoresce, or glow, when
placed under a black light. A black light gives off highly energetic
ultraviolet light. Ultraviolet waves are found beyond violet
wavelengths on the electromagnetic spectrum, thus the name
ultraviolet. Fluorescent substances absorb the ultraviolet light and
then re-emit it almost instantaneously. Some energy gets lost in the
process, so the emitted light has a longer wavelength than the
absorbed radiation, which makes this light visible and causes the
material to appear to “glow.”
The LAMP instrument will use ultraviolet light to search for water on
the surface of the moon. Using UV waves from the sun and stars,
LAMP’s sensory equipment will read the spectra of materials
reflected off of the moon’s surface. A part of the UV spectrum of the
hydrogen atoms is called the Lyman series. The brightest of this
series (the Lyman alpha) has a specific wavelength that LAMP has
been tuned to “see.” When Lyman alpha light emitted by hydrogen
bounces off the surface of the moon, LAMP will be able to detect
and record it.
Classroom Activity
1. Have students begin the lesson by setting up their science notebooks for the day.
Instruct the students to write the focus question in their science notebooks: How can
ultraviolet light help us detect water on the moon?
2. Watch chapter 4 of the LAMP DVD again. Instruct students that today they will be
experimenting with ultraviolet light.
3. Turn out the lights in the classroom. While it does not need to be completely dark,
dimming the lights will help with the “seeing in the dark” connection. Give each group of
students several samples of white material with the drops of liquid already on them.
4. Ask the students to observe the white cloths before giving them a black light. Have them
sketch and record their observations in their science notebooks.
5. Give each group a black light. Have them turn on the lights and sketch and record their
observations in their science notebooks.
6. Repeat steps 3 and 4 with the black cloths. Again, have students observe, sketch, and
record their observations in their science notebooks.
7. Turn off the black lights and turn on the classroom lights. Have each group use their
observations to make a claims and evidence chart.
8. Using the claims and evidence chart, have students answer the focus question for the
day.
9. Conduct a “making-meaning” conference to ensure that students have made the
appropriate connections between their activity and the mission of the LAMP instrument.
(See the sample claims and evidence chart below.)


Claim
I claim that you can use ultraviolet
light to detect substances that
cannot be seen with the naked eye.
I claim you can use ultraviolet light
to better detect materials on a dark
surface.

Evidence
I claim this because we could not
see the stains on the cloths until we
turned on the black light.

I claim this because we did not
really notice anything on the black
cloth, but when we shone the black
light on it there were many fibers
glowing on the cloth.
Though this chart provides possible responses from students during the makingmeaning conference, the students should generate their own claims and evidence based
on their individual group’s findings.
Extension
Allow students to design and conduct their own experiments using the black light.
2|Pa g e – L e s s o n 6
Return to the Moon: Lunar Exploration (LAMP)
Resources
Denver Museum of Nature and Science. (2006). The Lyman alpha mapping project: Seeing in
the dark. Retrieved September 20, 2008, from http://www.boulder.swri.edu/lamp/index.html
Helmenstine, A. (2008). What materials glow under a black or ultraviolet light? Retrieved
September 20, 2008 from http://chemistry.about.com/cs/howthingswork/f/blblacklight.htm
3|Pa g e – L e s s o n 6
Return to the Moon: Lunar Exploration (LAMP)