Students will demonstrate knowledge of visible light interactions with different materials and through different mediums (air, solids, and water). Students will use Sphero Bolt to create a flashlight. The goal is to create the brightest light from the LED lights on the Sphero BOLT. Students will need to understand how light interacts with different substances to successfully create the brightest flashlight. They will also test their lights in water to see how waves change direction and speed in different mediums.  The Light intensity will be measured using the function in google science journal.

This article provides an overview of how teachers can use bibliotherapy to help students deal with social, emotional, and behavioral issues.

This extended lesson offers students a unique way to explore new books and think about the education process. They first participate in a "blind date" with a book - a quick reading of one small part of a novel - after which they are asked to rate it. Eventually, students choose a book to read and go on to debate whether their book should be added to the curriculum.

This article lists common misconceptions about light, heat, and the sun. It provides formative assessment probes and information about teaching for conceptual change.

In this STEM activity, students are enabled to demonstrate, test, and analyze materials utilized in spacesuits to keep astronauts cool in the harsh environment of space. They will demonstrate the water cooling technology used in the International Space Station (ISS) Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU). Students will also test and make an analysis of the relationship between reflection/absorption and color.

Students quantify the percent of light reflected from solutions containing varying concentrations of red dye using LEGO© MINDSTORMS© NXT bricks and light sensors. They begin by analyzing a set of standard solutions with known concentrations of food coloring, and plot data to graphically determine the relationship between percent reflected light and dye concentration. Then they identify dye concentrations for two unknown solution samples based on how much light they reflect. Students gain an understanding of light scattering applications and how to determine properties of unknown samples based on a set of standard samples.

The study of clouds (where they occur, their characteristics, etc) plays a key role in the understanding of climate change. This site discusses how the relative thickness and altitude of various cloud types result in their either reflecting solar radiation or transmitting and trapping it, thereby warming Earth's surface. It features text, a scientific illustration, and links to other relevant topics and datasets.

This issue of the free online magazine, Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears, explores the Sun's role in warming Earth, the albedo (reflectivity) of Earth's diverse surfaces, and how the decline of Arctic sea ice is affecting Earth's energy balance. Science lessons introduce the concepts of solar energy, reflection, and absorption to elementary students. The issue also includes an overview of the natural resources and energy sources found in the polar regions as well as lessons that allow students to develop the concepts of natural resources, energy sources, and energy efficiency.

This article highlights children's literature about light, heat, and energy sources for use in the elementary classroom.

This project unit—a multimedia self-portrait published in digital form—is the capstone of your students' high school careers. It is a chance for them to pause and reflect on where they've been, where they're going, and who they are as a person. Students will reflect on what they want others to know about them: what they want their message to be and what types of media they might use to convey that message. Students will have the opportunity to express themselves in many different formats—through writing, of course, but also through other media of their choosing. Students will be able to convey your message through visual art, photography, a graphic novel, audio, poetry, or video—practically any type of media they want!

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Students will complete a multimedia self-portrait, capturing important aspects of the essence of themselves.
Students will contribute one chapter from their multimedia self-portrait to a class anthology.
Students will present one chapter from their multimedia self-portrait to the class.

GUIDING QUESTIONS

These questions are a guide to stimulate thinking, discussion, and writing on the themes and ideas in the unit. For complete and thoughtful answers and for meaningful discussions, students must use evidence based on careful reading of the texts.

How is late adolescence a moment of internal and external change?
What are the most important qualities of your character—past, present, and future?
How can you portray these key aspects of yourself using multimedia?

BENCHMARK ASSESSMENT: Cold Read

During this unit, on a day of your choosing, we recommend you administer a Cold Read to assess students’ reading comprehension. For this assessment, students read a text they have never seen before and then respond to multiple-choice and constructed-response questions. The assessment is not included in this course materials.

In a hands-on way, students explore light's properties of absorption, reflection, transmission and refraction through various experimental stations within the classroom. To understand absorption, reflection and transmission, they shine flashlights on a number of preselected objects. To understand refraction, students create indoor rainbows. An understanding of the fundamental properties of light is essential to designing an invisible laser security system.

Students learn to use the QuIP (questions into paragraphs) comprehension strategy to organize information and then synthesize it in writing.

This article features science lesson plans to teach elementary students about the sun's energy, the relationship between light and heat, albedo, and the absorption of different surfaces. National standards and literacy integrations are provided for each lesson.

This activity is designed for students working in small groups to investigate light and some of its properties. Through observation and manipulating equipment students will conclude light travels in a straight line. They will be asked to show through drawings and written description what happened to the path of light when it comes in contact with an object. Questions will be generated for further investigation to reinforce their ideas. Groups will be asked to present their findings. The vocabulary words to be discovered are reflect, absorb, and redirect.

In this activity, students will investigate how light reflects off smooth surfaces (mirrors), learn about angles of reflection, and apply that knowledge in a relay experiment where they must direct a light beam around the room by reflecting it off 3 mirrors to hit a target placed in the classroom. Each group will investigate different paths and angles of reflection to hit a target. Once they have found a viable solution, they need to demonstrate their success to the teacher. Teachers will record observations throughout this exploration, documenting student progress in the groups and recording when each group has found a successful solution. Each group is required to complete one relay, but may continue hitting other relay targets as time allows.

This mentor lesson observation and reflection form is to be completed by the BT when observing the mentor (or another master teacher) teach a lesson. This form provides a guided opportunity for the BT to reflect on different elements of the lesson and is a springboard for a discussion between the BT and mentor and/or coach.

In this lesson students practice gratitude and mindful meditation inspired by Auguste Rodin’s Cathedral. Essential Question: How can art inspire gratitude?

This mentor lesson observation and reflection form is to be completed by the BT when observing the mentor (or another master teacher) teach a lesson. This form provides a guided opportunity for the BT to reflect on different elements of the lesson and is a springboard for a discussion between the BT and mentor and/or coach.

This resource provides a lesson designed to guide a reading of The Scarlet Ibis. Students will complete a guided reading initially before rereading the text independently. The lesson provides guiding questions, vocabulary, as well as a culminating writing task.

This article describes the energy that radiates from the sun, the concept of albedo, Earth's radiation budget, and the effect of decreasing albedo on Earth's climate.