Light

To begin our topic we looked at our concept map to read through the key words we'd be learning about to edit over time with any connections we made. 

Compare materials of different transparencies

We learnt about key words that were relevant to this lesson and became confident in their meaning. Using what we had learnt we designed a lampshade using the different materials to create different patterns. 

Explain how light travels in straight lines and shadows are formed

Our second lesson was based around investigating. We turned the lights off and closed the blinds and set up an investigation with our groups to measure shadows. It was interesting to investigate what happens to the width of a shadow the further it moved from the wall.

Describe how lenses can be used

When learning about lenses we began by looking at some glasses, magnifying glasses and even some of Mrs Crowther contact lenses (not ones she had been wearing)!

We learnt about the focal point and how light refracts and how lenses help us to see more clearly, to see things far away and to see things that are microscopic. We even made our own telescopes. 

Show white light is a mixture

As part of our work around white light we had to make links to our previous topic on electricity. We designed colour wheels with set colours and made a prediction about what would happen to them when we attached them to an electrical circuit with a buzzer attached. 

Explain how water can bend light

To explain how water can bend light we tried a range of different mini experiments. We first use an arrow on paper to see what happens when we placed it behind the glass of water. Once we’d discussed it, we created a droplet magnifier to see what happened when we lifted it away from the newspaper.

Investigate light colour mixing

For our light colour investigation we took different coloured cards and different coloured filters. Using what we’d learnt during the topic we decided what we thought would happen when we shone a torch through them.

Collaborative investigations

The end our topic we came up with different investigation questions. As a team we carried out our investigation and once we recorded our results using a line graph. Our questions included ‘what would happen to the shadow of an object at varying angles?’ And ‘what would happen to the diameter of the shadow if we moved it further away from the light source?’