Youngstown City Schools
SCIENCE: PHYSICS
UNIT #7: WAVE MOTION, SOUND, AND LIGHT- - (4 WEEKS) 2013-2014
SYNOPSIS: This unit focuses on the behavior of waves including the visible light spectrum and waves requiring a medium to
travel. Lab work will be used to introduce wave concepts and to gain a deeper understanding of wave behavior. At the end of
the unit students will demonstrate their understanding of sound waves by building and demonstrating a musical instrument.
ENABLERS conservation of energy, reflection, refraction, diffusion, interference, diffraction, wavelength, crest, trough, amplitude,
frequency, period, visible light spectrum, Ray diagrams, medium, law of reflection, Snell’s law, duality of light, photon, superposition,
Doppler effect
STANDARDS
XI. WAVE MOTION
A. The students will gain an understanding of wave properties.
a. Conservation of energy
b. Reflection
c. Refraction
d. Interference
e. Diffraction
B. The students will describe the electromagnetic spectrum. The students will analyze, investigate, and evaluate the
relationship among the characteristics of waves.
a. Wavelength
b. Frequency
c. Period
d. Amplitude
C. The students will describe the behavior of waves in various media.
D. The students will describe and design representations of light waves by ray diagrams.
E. The students will describe the visible light spectrum.
F. The students will describe light phenomena as it pertains to
a. Ray diagrams (propagation of light)
b. Law of reflection (equal angles)
c. Snell’s law
i. N1sinΘ1 = n2sinΘ2, quantifies refraction in which n is the index of refraction of the medium
and Θ is the angle the wave enters or leaves the medium, when measured from the normal
line.
d. Diffraction patterns
e. Wave-particle duality of light
f. Visible spectrum and color
G. The students will describe and design representations of light waves by ray diagrams.
H. The students will describe the photon model of light energy transfer and the electromagnetic wave model of light
energy transfer.
I. The students will describe the index of refraction of a material and how it is calculated by the equation n = c /v,
where n is the index of refraction of a material, v is the speed of light through the material, and c is the seed of
light in a vacuum.
J. The students will analyze the behavior of waves at boundaries between media:
a. Reflection, including the Law of Reflection
b. Refraction, including Snell’s Law
K. The students will analyze the relationship between the phenomena of interference and the principle of
superposition
L. The students will analyze the frequency and wavelength of sound produced by a moving source (the Doppler
Effect).
M. The students will demonstrate their knowledge of waves through laboratory experiences.
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LITERACY STANDARDS
RST.9 Synthesize information from a range of sources (e.g., texts, experiments, simulations) into a coherent understanding of a
process, phenomenon, or concept, resolving conflicting information when possible.
TEACHER NOTES
MOTIVATION
1. Show the Tacoma Narrows Bridge Video that will demonstrate oscillation
http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play?p=tacoma+narrows+bridge&tnr=21&vid=9CDF24D751
6D0AD5C16A9CDF24D7516D0AD5C16A&l=356&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts1.mm.bing.net%2Fth
%3Fid%3DU.5023734004449318%26pid%3D15.1&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bing.com%2Fvid
eos%2Fwatch%2F%3Fq%3Dtacoma%2Bnarrows%2Bbridge%26vid%3D9CDF24D7516D0AD5
C16A9CDF24D7516D0AD5C16A%26docid%3D5023734004449318&sigr=13tmsr4ct&tt=s&tit=T
acoma+Narrows+Bridge+Collapse+%26quot%3BGallopin%26%2339%3B+Gertie%26quot%3B
&back=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%3Fei%3DUTF8%26p%3Dtacoma%2Bnarrows%2Bbridge%26fr%3Dyfp-t-900&sigb=12cd4gs74
2. Teacher performs the following demonstration: spread seeds on the top of a speaker with the
volume turned all the way up. Students discuss why the seeds move as the volume is increased.
3. Teacher shows video of using a voice to break glass http://dsc.discovery.com/tvshows/mythbusters/videos/adam-savage-on-breaking-glass.htm
4. Students set both personal and academic goals for this Unit.
5. Preview the authentic assessment
TEACHING-LEARNING
TEACHER NOTES
Teachers: note that the following website has lots of great lessons for different subjects in
this as well as other units. http://mhhe.com/biosci/genbio/virtual_labs/
1. Teacher-led discussion about different types of waves and oscillations using a slinky and string.
Students will define key terms using vocabulary strategies and foldables: node, frequency,
wavelength, amplitude, crest, and trough. Students will observe waves with an oscilloscope,
wave tank, and tuning forks. Students will use a metal hanger and forefinger to demonstrate
the amplitude of sound waves when striking the hanger with a pencil. The amplitude will be
magnified if you use a piece of Styrofoam inserted at the tip of the hanger (by the forefinger) and
strike it with a pencil. Students will be challenged to use a variety of materials that can also
amplify the sound. (XI.A – XI.C)
2. Teacher can use discretion to choose which virtual lab students can perform from the University
of Colorado website http://www.uccs.edu/~faculty/danderso/vgcl/index.html “Radio Waves”,
“Sound Waves,” “Sound on a String,” “Wave Interference” (XIA-B, XI.M)
3. Review of the electromagnetic spectrum, prisms and how light is absorbed, reflected or
scattered. Examples are given about shirt color, white light, and black light. (XI.D-XI.F)
4. Teacher discussion of the Law of Reflection and Snell’s Law attached on pages 4-5.
Students solve practice problems using the equations. (XI.D-XI.G)
Snell’s Law Experiment
sent as PDF
5. Students will perform the laboratory experiments “5A Applied Science Physics Lab”
(Reflection, Diffraction, Interference, Refraction, and Waves) and Snell’s Law (see handouts).
Students must follow complex multistep procedure when carrying out labs; analyze the results
based on explanations they have heard or read. (XI.D-F, XI.K, XI.M)
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TEACHING-LEARNING
TEACHER NOTES
6. Students perform either of the Virtual Labs and calculate the amount of work done on them
(roller coaster), how much work is done by the roller coaster to get them to the top of the hill, etc.
Students will also perform a lab in which they will walk up a flight of stairs, calculate the amount
of work done, and compare this to pushing a heavy box across the room to carrying the box
across the room. Explain why results are the same or different. Data are collected, recorded
and discussed. (XI.H-J, XI.M)
7. Students will perform the Virtual Lab “The Doppler Effect”
http://mhhe.com/biosci/genbio/virtual_labs/doppler_effect/main.html “ (XI.L)
8. Students will perform Virtual Labs: “Waves on a String,” “Standing Waves on a String;”
“Speed of Sound Measurements;” “Diffraction in Water, Light, and Microwaves;” and
“Interference and Sound Waves” at http://phet.colorado.edu (XI.K)
TRADITIONAL ASSESSMENT
TEACHER NOTES
1. Unit Test
TEACHER CLASSROOM ASSESSMENT
TEACHER NOTES
1. 2- and 4-Point Questions
2. Lab Reports
AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT(30% of grade)
TEACHER NOTES
1. Students evaluate their goals for the Unit.
2. Students will design and build a musical instrument using various materials that do not contain
any parts of a real instrument. The instrument must play a certain amount of notes, as well as
explain how it works. As an additional challenge, once the instruments are made, students will
play a tune at the teacher’s discretion, i.e. “Mary Had a Little Lamb” or “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little
Star.” (XI.A – XI.C, XI.L)
3. Students would view the YouTube video “The Tacoma Narrows Fallacy”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ai2QFxStxo.They debate which theory is true, the narrator’s
theory or the presently accepted scientific community theory. RST.9
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