Light Incursion (Levels 5/6)

In this illuminating 90-minute incursion, students investigate the properties of light using various objects that reflect, diffract and refract light. Students investigate the speed of light through different mediums, and explore how glass and water magnify objects. This incursion challenges students to think about light as a form of energy that our eyes can detect, making it perfect for later year levels. Our passionate science educators carefully guide students through each step, prompting students to predict, observe and reflect on each activity.

• Students investigate the properties of light, including source, colour, reflection, and refraction.
• Students gain the understanding that light is a form of energy, and that not all light can be detected by the human eye. 
• Using an anatomical eye model, students gain a basic understanding of how the human eye detects light.

• Discussion on prior knowledge of light. 
• Investigating how mirrors can reflect light and distort/duplicate images. 
• Observing how light interacts with objects, and how the angle of reflection affects the direction the light travels in.
• Discussing the visual light spectrum and observing how light reflects different colours. 
• Investigating how water refracts light and why the images are reversed. 
• Exploring how convex and concave lenses bend light; and can be used to project images. 
• Discussing the physiology of the human eye, and how it detects light.
• Observe the visible spectrum from different light sources through diffraction grating.
• Experimenting with UV light and how it can be blocked.

• Light from a source forms shadows and can be absorbed, reflected and refracted (VCSSU080);
• Compare data with predictions and use as evidence in developing explanations (VCSIS086);