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GRACE LE
BUILDS IT!
Then There Was Light!
Engage:
Once upon a time, there was a Princess in the Kingdom of Light. The Kingdom was bright and beautiful. But one day, Forces of Darkness captured all the light in the Kingdom and took the princess hostage. She was thrown in the dungeon and was trapped in a cell in the corner. While she was there, the Forces gave her a mirror so that she can watch herself grow old and also bread every single day. She believed that all hope was lost until she overheard that the Forces of Darkness left a code to the cell on the wall! But she couldn't see where she was. So, with the help of her friend, the rat, she took some of her bread, chewed it up into a paste, and stuck it the mirror on the rat. She then lured the rat with more bread crumbs to go where he needed to be so that she code see the code through the mirror. Once she saw it, the princess busted out of there and took back her kingdom and lived happily ever after! The End!
Lock Combination
How did the Princess know where to get the rat at the right place to see the code? Well, let's test it out with lasers!
Explore:
In partners, we were given a mirror and a laser to explore the topic of light. The overhead lights were cut off and our professor put fog around the room so that we can see the lasers. We learned that light travels in a straight line and the light come out at the angle that it goes in. For example, so if the laser entered the mirror at a 30-degree angle, then it will reflect or exit at a 30-degree angle, creating a "V" shape. We tried out different angles and the results were the same, we would try out a certain angle and it would come out at the same angle.
After trying out the lasers, we began to investigate water beads and a water cup. We were asked to make observations as we picked up a water bead. Each student was given a cup filled with water and was asked what would happen if we stuck our pens or pencil in it? Why were our findings like this?
Explain:
As I mentioned above, light travels in a straight line. To prove that, we demonstrated by blocking our vision so that we couldn't see the object. Just like light, it travels in a straight line and if didn't then you wouldn't be a to see past it. Another rule that was mentioned is that when light comes from one median to another, it changes direction. This was explained by the pen in the water as we see the pen being "broken". When light travels through the water, it breaks the light or changing the direction of the light making the pen seem broken. The last rule that we talked about is Angle In=Angle Out. What this means is that at which ever angle you set your light to be, the light will come out the same angle. It will bounce off of the mirror.
Expand/Elaborate:
After exploring the principles of light with the lasers, water beads, pens in water, and the story, we took these concepts created our own periscopes to help us better understand how light works. A periscope is a technology that can help us see something that is completely out of sight! We were each given two small rectangular mirrors and it was our job to build it ourselves. With items around my apartment, I found a Poptarts box, tape, the two mirrors that were provided, scissors, and paper. I first opened the box so that I had room to place my mirrors. I placed one mirror at a certain angle and taped it on there. Then I carefully placed the second mirror at the top with the same angle in order to see what I couldn't see. It may look easy but I can tell you now that it isn't!! There were lots of adjustments and retries but I never gave up! Below are some pictures showing how I made my periscope! Enjoy!
Evaulate:
Formative:
A formative evaluation is a type of evaluation that a teacher can use in order to figure out what gaps need to be filled in. To complete this evaluation, our professor asked us to draw about light reflecting off rough and refective surfaces. To do this, we had to recall what we learned and to know the pricples of light. Once we drew the picture we held up or drawings towards the camera for our professor to see, as we were meeting virtually. By doing this, out professor could see if we were understanding what he was teaching us.
Summative:
Constructivist Learning and the 5E Teaching Model
Click on the link below to learn more about the five "E's
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