Mirror, Mirror – Quick Challenge!

Grade Level: First

Big Idea:

• Reflective materials have an effect on the path of a beam of

light.

Quick Challenge:

• (Instructions presented orally by instructor) – Place a target at

one end of the table. Using a laser pointer and small mirrors,
get your beam of light to touch the target. Try to use as many
mirrors as possible, but you must use at least one mirror.

Methodology:

• The instructor will orally read the directions or display them in

one place for the students to see.
• Have the students work in pairs.
• Materials:
o Empty toilet paper rolls with drawn on targets (you can
also print and tape a target) – 1 per pair
o Laser pointers – 1 per pair
o Small mirrors – keep mirrors in one location, have each
group take a few, and then they can come get more as
needed.
o Give the students time to work and troubleshoot their
solutions. As they feel confident to demonstrate, the
teacher will go to their table and determine if they are
successful or not.
o Students can have two attempts to demonstrate for the
teacher (and they may make changes between the two
attempts).
Student Feedback:

• This will be assessed in the form of a contest. The contest will

be to see which pair can reach the target with the beam of
light using the greatest number of mirrors.

Content Outline:

• Light moves in a straight line, but certain materials can affect

the way light travels.
• Mirrors, or reflective surfaces, bend light.
• New vocabulary:
o Reflection: occurs when a light ray hits a surface and
bounces off.
o Light beam: a directional projection of light energy
radiating from a light source.
• What happened to the light when it was shone on a mirror? The
beam bent.
• How did you make the light move? Changing the angles that it
hit the mirror.

Larger STEM Challenge:

• This could lead into a lesson teaching the standard: 1-PS4-3:

Plan and conduct an investigation to determine the effect of
placing objects made with different materials in the path of a
beam of light.
• This could lead into a stem challenge where students
investigate reflective materials further. They could complete a
larger mirror/light beam activity where they measured angles
to accurately place a mirror in order to make a beam of light
reach a target.