Date:  January 28, 2000

Grade Level(s): 6

Subject(s):

• Science/Physics

Description:  Students will explore characteristics of light and heat.

Goals:

Students will:

1. demonstrate an understanding of visible light.
2. make a correlation between visible light and heat absorption.

Objective(s):

Students will:

1. define the keyword visible light.
2. conduct a light absorption experiment.
3. chart their observations during the experiment.
4. draw some conclusions about how color affects heat absorption based on the data gathered during the experiment.

Materials:

objectives written on colored sentence strips:

• -define visible light
• -conduct a light absorption experiment
• -chart the data gathered during the experiment
• -draw some conclusions about light absorption based on the data gathered during the experiment

pocket chart

prisms (one per student)

thermometers ( five per student)

3x6 sheets of colored construction paper (red, yellow, blue, white, black);  (one set per group)

sheet of white paper (one per student)

sheet of notebook paper (one per student)

crayons (one pack per student)

computers (one per student)

Introduction:

1. Have prisms setting on the students’ desks when they enter the room.
2. Show the students how to hold the prism to produce a rainbow.
3. Review the colors of the spectrum and the mnemonic ROY G. BIV.
4. State the lesson objectives using the sentence strips and the pocket chart—
“Today we are going to:

a. define visible light.
b. conduct a light absorption experiment.
c. chart the data gathered during the experiment.
d. draw some conclusions about light absorption based on the data gathered during the experiment.”

1. Introduce the definition of visible light:  “it is made up of all the colors of the rainbow; it is the light that we can see; white light is visible light.”
2. Have the students hold up their prisms to make their own rainbows. State that “when light shines through the prism, it separates the white light
into all of the colors of the rainbow.”
3. Discuss light absorption and light reflection, as well as how each relates to the temperature of an object.
4. Introduce the experiment and materials.
5. Break the students into groups of five.
6. Pass out group materials.
7. Have the students conduct the light absorption experiment:
a. Lay the thermometers on the windowsill.
b. Cover each thermometer with a different colored piece of paper.
c. Have the students return to their desks.
d. As a whole group make predictions about the results for each colored sheet of paper (list these on the board).
e. On a piece of notebook paper, have the students read and record the temperatures shown on each thermometer from their group.
f. Have the students enter the data that was gathered on a computer spreadsheet.
g. Have the students create a graph of their choosing utilizing the previously entered data.
h. Have the students share, compare, and discuss their results, as well as compare actual results with the predictions previously noted on the board.
i. Have the students draw conclusions about how color affects light absorption.
j. Have the students access and complete the activity on the following internet site:  http://www.exploratorium.edu/xref/phenomena/abs

Conclusion:

1.  Refer back to the pocket chart which contains the day’s objectives. Use the objectives as guide for review.
2.  Ask if there are any additional comments or questions.
3. Have the students write several sentences in their journals explaining what they learned today.

Extension/Enrichment:

The students will choose a season and write a write a short essay on what colors they feel would be appropriate for that particular season.
Included in the essay will be a defense for why they chose those particular colors for that particular season.

Assessment:

1. Observe for student involvement.
2. Check for completion of the experiment graph.
3. Assess and respond to journal entries.

Useful Internet Resources:

Light Absorption
http://www.exploratorium.edu/xref/phenomena/absorption_-_light.html

Heat Absorption  
http://www.exploratorium.edu/xref/phenomena/absorption_-_heat.html