In this activity, students learn how to prevent exposure to the Sun's harmful ultraviolet rays. Students will systematically test various sunscreens to determine the relationship between spf (sun protection factor) value and sun exposure. At the end of the activity, students are asked to consider how this investigation could be used to help them design a new sunscreen.

Explore how light responds when it interacts with different types of juice in a live-action video [1:30] from PEEP and the Big Wide World. Use the video to observe and make evidence-based claims about how light interacts with different materials. Support materials include: Background Reading, Teaching Tips, and Discussion Questions. This resource was developed through WGBH's Bringing the Universe to America's Classrooms project, in collaboration with NASA.

Students learn and use the properties of light to solve the following challenge: "A mummified troll was discovered this summer at our school and it has generated lots of interest worldwide. The principal asked us, the technology classes, to design a security system that alerts the police if someone tries to pilfer our prized possession. How can we construct a system that allows visitors to view our artifact during the day, but invisibly protects it at night in a cost-effective way?"

Through two classroom demos, students are introduced to the basic properties of lasers through various mediums. In the Making an Electric Pickle demonstration, students see how cellular tissue is able to conduct electricity, and how this is related to various soaking solutions. In the Red/Green Lasers through Different Mediums demonstration, students see the properties of lasers, especially diffraction, in various mediums. Follow-up lecture material introduces students to the mechanisms by which lasers function and relates these functions to the properties of light. In the associated activity, student teams research specific laser types and present their findings to the class.

In this video from the Encyclopedia of Physics Demonstrations, observe how a laser beam is trapped in a water jet because the light reflects against the surface of the water.

Students research particular types of lasers and find examples of how they are used in technology today. Teams present their findings by means of PowerPoint presentations, videos or brochures. The class takes notes on the presentations using a provided handout. This activity prepares students for the "go public" phase of the legacy cycle in which they solve the grand challenge by designing and producing a laser-based security system.

Students learn the basic properties of light the concepts of light absorption, transmission, reflection and refraction, as well as the behavior of light during interference. Lecture information briefly addresses the electromagnetic spectrum and then provides more in-depth information on visible light. With this knowledge, students better understand lasers and are better prepared to design a security system for the mummified troll.

Concepts underlying the first of the Essential Principles of the Climate Sciences are aligned with topics typically taught in the elementary grades. This article identifies lessons that will help elementary students develop an understanding of how Sun's light warms Earth and how variations in daylight hours are associated with seasonal change. This article appears in the free, online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle.

Students will use observations and evidence to describe that objects can only be seen if they are illuminated by an external light source or give off their own light. Media is used to supplement student observations and encourage students to gather evidence to explain how light is needed to make objects visible. This lesson plan includes media such as videos, a slideshow, a digital game, and live-action video clips.

This pathway explores the properties of light. Light is described as a wave which is able to reflect, refract and diffract when it encounters surfaces. Applications of lights wave properties such as single and double slit diffraction are discussed, as well as how different colours occur as combinations of different frequecnies of light. Probelms are provided to check for understanding.

This tutorial explains light absorption, reflection and transmission in a clear and concise manner. Provides a "Check Your Understanding" section as well as additional links on color and light.

This site provides two video clips of lighthouse beams; observe how the beams move in straight lines over the landscape and away from the source. It also provides two pictures: beams in the setting sun and beams in space. Support materials are provided.

Students complete this Beer's Law activity in class. Students examine the attenuation of various thicknesses of transparencies. From this activity, students will understand that different substances absorb light differently. This can then be transferred to X-rays to explain that different substances absorb X-rays differently, hence the need for dual-energy analysis. In looking at Beer's Law, students use the properties associated with natural logarithms. After the activity, students complete a series of questions regarding what they observed.

Through an introduction to the design of lighting systems and the electromagnetic spectrum, students learn about the concept of daylighting as well as two types of light bulbs (lamps) often used in energy-efficient lighting design.

Students learn about the basic properties of light and how light interacts with objects. They are introduced to the additive and subtractive color systems, and the phenomena of refraction. Students further explore the differences between the additive and subtractive color systems via predictions, observations and analysis during three demonstrations. These topics help students gain a better understanding of how light is connected to color, bringing them closer to answering an overarching engineering challenge question.

Students examine various materials to investigate how they interact with light. They use five characteristics—translucency, transparency, opaqueness, reflectivity and refractivity—to describe how light interacts with the objects.

This activity is an experiment where students learn about angles of reflection and use that knowledge to reflect a light beam around obstacles to a target across the classroom.

Students are introduced to the correct technical vocabulary for lighting, which is different than layperson's terms. They learn about lamp (light bulb) technology and how to identify the various types of lighting in their spaces. They are also introduced to lighting controls as a means for saving energy- reducing costs, human energy consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions on the environment. Using an accompanying worksheet, students embark on a guided audit in which they survey the lighting in their classroom and identify the potential savings from using controls.

This video segment adapted from Shedding Light on Science describes how astronomical distances can be measured in units of light-years, and how the finite speed of light allows astronomers to study how the universe looked long ago.

This video segment adapted from Shedding Light on Science illustrates the dispersion of light through a prism and how raindrops refract sunlight to form rainbows. [3:55]