Lessons on Optical Devices

Once students have some concept of the nature of light, they can explore optical devices and begin to conceptualize how the devices work. The resources here include optical devices students will likely encounter again in later grades; thus, an introduction to these devices in middle school is appropriate.

---

Liquid Mirror Lunar Telescope http://www.sciencefriday.com/news/062007/telescope0620071.html

Scientists may have figured out a way to make a new telescope that can out-observe the most powerful space telescopes by a factor of a thousand. The secret to the design? A liquid mirror. MSP full record

Sight and Light http://school.discovery.com/lessonplans/programs/seeingthelight/index.html

In this two-day lesson plan, students will learn about the eyeball, pupil, retina, and optic nerve and make a model of an eyeball. Included are the objectives, needed materials, procedures, adaptations, discussion questions, a rubric for evaluation, suggested reading, links to other sites, vocabulary, and academic standards. Students can click on a vocabulary word to hear its pronunciation and a sentence using the word. Teachers can create worksheets, puzzles, and quizzes. A printable version can be downloaded. Teachers can purchase the video Seeing the Light and download comprehension questions and answers. MSP full record

Polarized Sunglasses Snack http://nsdl.exploratorium.edu/nsdl/showRecord.do?id=10845

This activity provides instructions for exploring the orientations at which a pair of polarized sunglasses best reduce road glare. MSP full record

Thin Lens http://www.shermanlab.com/science/physics/optics/ThinLens.php

This Java-based simulation allows the user to choose either a converging or diverging lens. The user can then alter the object distance and object height to see how these two variables affect the image. Simultaneously, the lens equation on the screen is modified according to the changes the user makes. It may be helpful to students to have a teacher prepared handout to guide their exploration of lenses with this tool. After exploration, can students infer and predict the kind of lenses needed for nearsightedness? For farsightedness? For magnifying glass? For binoculars? For telescopes or microscopes? MSP full record

Building a Simple Refracting Telescope http://www.amnh.org/education/resources/rfl/pdf/du_u05_refracting.pdf/

In this unit, students learn about refracting telescopes and construct a simple telescope. The three-page guide includes: general background readings, activity notes, step-by-step directions, and information about where to obtain supplies. The first part of the activity demonstrates how light passes through the first lens and is bent (or refracted) to a focal point. The second part demonstrates how to construct a telescope and use it to view distant objects.

Telescopes: Our Eyes on the Universe http://www.exploratorium.edu/origins/hubble/tools/before.html

This illustrated article touches on the history of telescopes, profiles three types of optical telescopes, and offers a few pointers for amateur astronomers. In the history category, the article mentions the telescopes developed by Hans Lippershey and Galileo Galilei in the early 1600s. The discussions of the Hubble Space Telescope and the Next Generation Space Telescope, which is slated to follow Hubble, focus on the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that each telescope can detect and the usefulness of observing in those regions of the spectrum. Part of the article's first page is devoted to a summary of how optical telescopes as a group work. The second page provides descriptions and simple ray diagrams of refracting telescopes, reflecting telescopes, and catadiatropic telescopes. MSP full record

Exploring Microscopes http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/optics/activities/students/exploring.html

In this activity, students will explore how microscopes work. Students will use three different types of microscopes to view the same image and explain their observations. An interactive Java-based simulation is included MSP full record

How Does It Work? Binoculars, Periscopes, and Kaleidoscopes http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/optics/activities/students/scopes.html

This resource explains how binoculars, periscopes and kaleidoscopes work. The learner will discover these instruments share similarities. In order to allow for student discovery, making the instruments first, followed by investigation into and discussion of how they work, is suggested. Thus, it may be necessary to modify handouts to exclude explanations of how the item works to begin. Instructions are included for making a periscope and a kaleidoscope. MSP full record

Critical Angle: Why Your Phone Calls Don't Leak Out of Optical Fibers http://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/critical_angle.html

This web site from the Exploratorium provides a demonstration of total internal reflection. The activity uses a fish aquarium to illustrate how a transparent material like water can act as a reflector. The site provides a thorough description of what to do, an explanation of what is happening, including the critical angle, and examples of applications to optical fibers. MSP full record

---

 Back to top

Copyright October 2007 — The Ohio State University. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0424671. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.