How Light Travels-STEM

5E Lesson Plan Format

Subject: Physical Science
Grade 3
Date:
Teacher: Ms. Chatfield Length of lesson:
Lesson objective:

Students will be able to
explain how shadows are
made, and how to
manipulate those shadows.
Students will be able to
explain what happens to
light when it travels from
water to air.
Grade Level Content Expectation:
P.EN.03.21: Demonstrate that light travels in a straight line and that
shadows are made by placing an object in a path of light.
P.EN.03.22: Demonstrate what happens to light when it travels from water
to air (straw half in water looks bent).

Focus Question:
What are the basic physical
properties of light?
Key Concepts: What is needed for understanding this content statement?
These would be the vocabulary necessary to understand and discuss these
concepts. Be sure to include all definitions. (5points)
Shadow: A dark area or shape produced by a body coming between rays of
light and a surface.
Refraction: Refraction is the change in direction of a wave due to a change
in its medium.


Time: Lesson Element: Instructional Outline:
Be very specific
and include all
materials,
especially
rubrics.
Assessment:
What will my
students do to
demonstrate:
1.a developing
understanding
(embedded
assessment)



Evaluation:
1. When checking for a developing understanding, I will be walking
around and listening to the group discussions going on. I will be asking
the groups to explain to me verbally what they see happening and what
they think that means. I will especially be looking for meaningful group
discussion, though.




2.a deep
understanding of
this benchmark
(final
assessment)?





Introduction
(*i.e.
Anticipatory Set,
Access prior
knowledge, or
KWL)

Instructional
Activities: How
will I present this
material? Be sure
to use strategies
that address
multiple
intelligences and
higher order
thinking











2. For a deep understanding, I will collect their notebooks and base their
understandings on what they have been recording throughout the whole
process. I will also base their understanding off of the worksheet that I
will collect at the end of the closure activity.



Engagement/Introduction:
I will use the Shadow Puppet Theatre science board. There are five
shapes that will be placed in the path of a flashlight to make their
shadow appear on the board.











Before we actually start exploring with the shapes shadows, I will
instruct the students to get out their science notebooks and for each
shape they will:
1) Draw a picture of what they predict the shapes shadow will look
like.
2) Write down what they predict will happen when the shape is brought
closer to the light source and farther away from the light source.
3) Write down their prediction as to whether the color of the shape will
affect its shadow.

Exploration:
To explore, I will let students come up to the board in small groups and
take turns creating shadows on the board with the shapes. They will
point a flashlight at the board and hold the shape in the path of light.
After they have had a chance to explore, they will write down the
results to their predictions in their science notebooks.

Explanation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuGwq7jIcK8

































Lights Path Cooperative Learning Activity

Before students arrive, set up 5-6 tables using the following procedures:
- Punch a hole in 3 index cards in the same place (near the top) with a hole
punch.
-Tape each card to a stable base, such as a wooden block so that they stand
up.
-Stagger the standing index cards about 12-16 inches apart. They can be in a
diagonal or straight line, as long as a path of line can shine through all 3
cards.
-Fold an 8.5x11in piece of paper and place it at the end of the line of cards.

Divide students into groups of 4-5. Instruct each group member to take
their science notebooks with them.

First, the students will need to work together to cut 2m of string and
carefully pass the string through the holes in each of the cards, being
careful not to move them. Then, they will pull the string tight. They will
be asked to write down whether the string is in a straight line, and what
that tells them about the path that light travels.

Second, the students will point a flashlight through the first card and
observe what they see on the piece of paper folded at the opposite end
of the line of cards. They will write down what they observe and what
that tells them about how light travels.

Elaboration:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuGwq7jIcK8
http://galileo.phys.virginia.edu/outreach/8thgradesol/RefractionFrm.htm

Explain that we saw that light travels in a straight line when it goes
through a single substance, but what happens when it goes from one
substance to another?

Refraction activities (Discrepant Events):

1) The Bent Straw Cooperative Learning Activity
-Divide students into groups of two. Each group gets a jar that is nearly
filled with water and a straw (one without a bendable neck).
-Have one student hold the straw upright in the water. Both students
look at the straw from the top and the sides of the jar. Record
observations.
-Let the straw lean against the edge of the jar. Again, look at the straw
from the top and the sides of the jar and record observations.

2) The Disappearing Penny Cooperative Learning Activity
-Divide students into groups of two.









Closure/Review
Techniques

-Place an empty cup on the table and drop a penny in it. One student
looks down into the cup so that he can see the penny.
-Have him move back away from the cup slowly until the penny just
disappears from his sight.
-The other student will slowly pour water into the cup and the penny
will come back into sight.
-Repeat the process so that both students get to observe the penny
reappearing.
-Students record their observations in their notebooks.

3) The Bent Laser
-At the front of the room, fill a large, clear plastic tub with water. Add a
few drops of milk so that the water becomes slightly cloudy.
-Clap some chalky erasers above the water a few times so that the air
becomes dusty.
-Turn the lights off and point a laser through the dust into the water.
Move the laser around and direct it at different angles.
-Ask the class what they are seeing.

Closure/Review:
http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/gamesactivities/lightshadows.html
Students will play the interactive game above. As they are playing it,
they will fill out an accompanying worksheet (attached at bottom).
They will have a homework assignment this day to stand outside in both
the sunlight and moonlight and record their observations of their own
shadows.

Homework/Individual Practice:

Go outside in the sunlight and notice which way your shadow appears
in relation to the sun. Do the same thing when the sun goes down. Is it
easier to see your shadow in the sunlight or moonlight? Record all
observations in science journals.
Differentiation/Accommodation
Strategies
(What will you do to help the
special needs, at-risk or
struggling students?)

Struggling students will get extra verbal help from myself when
working on the discrepant events. Instead of having them set up their
stations, I will already have them set up for them. Instead of requiring
them to write down their observations, I may have them draw what
they see, or explain to me what they see happening.

Evidence of Understanding:
What evidence will I accept that
the students have acquired the
concepts or skills for this
Benchmark?

Acceptable evidence of understanding will include correct verbal and
written explanations that light travels in a straight line when it is in air,
and that it bends when it goes from air to water.
Demonstrations that they do not understand will include not being able
to explain how light travels. This could be in written or verbal form, or
What are my students doing that
demonstrates that they dont
understand?
from not being able to make the light shine through all 3 cards in the
Lights Path activity.
Connections: How can I
connect this content expectation
with the students prior
knowledge, other subjects, and
other expectations?

I could connect this to an ELA activity by having students write a
poem or haiku that explains that light travels in a straight path. It could
also be made into an art project by having them draw pictures of
objects and the shadows they would create, based on where the
sun/light source is located.

Nave Misconception: What are
some wrong ideas that need to be
addressed?

1. Light always passes straight through a transparent material
without changing direction.
2. When an object is viewed through a transparent solid or liquid
material the object is seen exactly where it is located.
3. A shadow is something that exists on its own. Light pushes the
shadow away from the object to the wall or the ground and is
thought of as a "dark " reflection of the object.
http://amasci.com/miscon/opphys.html
Materials/Resources:


Shadow Puppet Theatre board
Science notebooks for all students
Flashlights
Index cards
Hole punch
Tape
Wooden blocks
Blank sheet of paper
String
Clear glass jars
Straws (non-bendy)
Pennies
Large, clear plastic tub
Few drops of milk
Chalk/board erasers
Laser pointer
Access to water
Access to computers with internet access








Sun, Light & Shadows: Online Activity
(Answers in red)
1) Can you find a way of making the shadow bigger? What did you do?
A: move the light source closer to the object
2) Which objects make the best shadows?
A: Objects that are not transparent.
3) Click and drag the pink handle to move the light closer to the object. What happens to the
shadow?
A: It gets bigger.
4) What happens to the shadow when you tilt the light up? What happens when you tilt the light
down?
A: Up the shadow moves down. Down the shadow moves up.
5) What happens to the shadow when the light gets dimmer?
A: It gets harder to see.
6) Where do the shadows outside appear?
A: In the opposite direction from where the sun is shining on the object.
7) When you drag the sun across the sky, when are the shadows the shortest?
A: When it is directly overhead.
8) Is the moonlight bright enough to make shadows?
A: Yes.


























Website references:
http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/gamesactivities/lightshadows.html
http://galileo.phys.virginia.edu/outreach/8thgradesol/RefractionFrm.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuGwq7jIcK8
http://amasci.com/miscon/opphys.html