Understanding Light Energy: Key Concepts, Sources Of Light, And Shadows

On the proforma provided write a brief report on your science concept to at least a Year 7 level.

1.Explain your chosen concept and define the key terms associated with it

2.Provide valid labeled and/or annotated diagrams to support your discussion

3.Reference your key ideas using appropriate academic resources

On the proforma:

1)Create a minimum of 10 well considered interview questions. You may want to refer to a concrete example (diagram, photograph or object etc.) that you plan to use in your interview.

It is expected that your questions will change throughout your interview as you adapt the discussion to accommodate your child’s responses. These initial 10 questions, however, should not be altered in this report as it is important for your tutor to be able to reflect on your initial thought process and observe how you have adapted your questioning in the interview (but you can add questions if it becomes clear that yours are not working and if you do that please indicate this).

2)With written consent, interview ONE child (Years 3-6) about their ideas around your chosen science concept. The consent letter MUST be included in the appendices as the assignment will NOT be marked otherwise.

Sources of Light

Light is the energy that makes it possible for human beings and animals to see the world. Light originating from different sources referred to as sources of light. One's eyes are able to see variety light wavelength as different colours. Through light, technology around us is powered. Various form of how technology around is powered by light comprises of, cameras record light as it reflects off objects. Telescopes use lenses to bend light, laser beams make the DVD players and CD and printer possible ("Summary • Light energy", 2016).

There are various sources of light. They have been categorized into two: Natural sources and Artificial sources

The universe has many objects that emit light. Light emitted from these sources are able to reach the earth, but only some of it . (Jus, 2018).The following are the sources of natural light.

Ø Sun is a major source of light in the world.. The sun is an enormous ball of fire, having the nuclear fusion at its centre producing immense energy. The light that is emitted by the sun is one of the main factors for the life on earth sustainability (Jus, 2018).The energy emitted by the sun come out as light and heat.

Ø The moon is another source of light. The moon on its own is not capable of producing light. However it reflects light from the sun.

Ø Bioluminescence is the ability of a living organism to produce light. This light is produced by the effects of a particular chemical reaction within the organism. Example of these organism comprises of, fireflies, jellyfish, and some deep sea plant.

Artificial sources of light are those light that produced artificially. They are mostly known as the man-made light. These source of light can be categorized into three different sources.

Ø Incandescent sources-the light is emitted from particular objects that have been exposed to a high-temperature heating. In the process, there is the production of both visible light and infrared light. Example include candle.

Ø Luminescent sources-through acceleration of charges in a luminescent material, light can be produced. The most used way of producing light is through transitory current over the material. Example include electric bulb.

Ø Gas discharge sources-light can be produced through the passing of electricity at low temperature through certain gases. Example include. Neon lamp.

Light has various characteristics and features. Some of these features include: First, light travels only in a straight line. Second light travels at a very high speed of 332 meters per second through the air as a medium of transmission. Thirdly light can be diffracted, reflected and refracted (Meena, 2016).

Characteristics of Light

A shadow is referred to as a black region that is formed on a wall when the light hits an opaque object. Opaque objects are objects that do not permit light to pass through it. Since light cannot pass through a solid object, a black area is noted on the screen. Umbra refers to the dark area on the wall. Penumbra refers to the area surrounding the region that is dark. Depending on the source of light position and the distance that light is from the object, shadows do change correspondingly ("Summary • Light energy", 2016).

When there is the prevention of transmission of light from the sun to the earth, eclipse is formed. Nonluminous body refers to bodies that do not produce their own energy, an example is a moon. The shape of the moon will change as it orbits the earth. During occurrences when half-moon is seen, this clearly means that only half moon is reflected by the sun. Eclipse is categorized into two, lunar and solar eclipse ("Summary • Light energy", 2016)

A solar eclipse takes place when the moon blocks out all the rays from the sun from reaching the earth. During this occurrence, some parts of the world experience partial darkness while others experience total darkness. For the solar eclipse to happen, the moon has to be between the sun and the earth ("Summary • Light energy", 2016).

The lunar eclipse-lunar eclipse occurs when the rays from the sun are blocked by from reaching the earth by the moon. During such occurrences, some of the earth region experience total darkness while other experience partly blackout ("Summary • Light energy", 2016).

Reflection of light refers to the bouncing back of the light once it strikes a surface that is smooth or polished ("Light Absorption, Reflection, and Transmission", 2016).

Terminology of reflection of light

Reflected ray -is the ray directed outwards from the surface.

Angle of incidence- is the angle between the normal ray and the incident ra

An angle of reflection -is the angle between the normal ray and the reflected ray.

The normal ray- is the ray perpendicularly to the surface that is polished or smooth.

Light has the capability of traveling through various materials. The direction at which light travels can change, the bending or changing of light direction refers to the refraction of light. Refraction of light is likely to happen when there is a bend of light to an optically denser medium from a less dense medium.

• Light-light is a form of energy that is visible to human beings.

• Colour –white colour can be split into light spectrum.

• Reflection when the light hits an object and bounces back.

• Refraction- bending of light when it passes from a higher medium to a lesser medium.

• Translucent-materials that allow light to pass through but you cannot see through them clearly.

• Opaque.-Materials that do not allow light to pass through it completely.

Shadows and Eclipses

Place (at child’s home, park etc):

Child’s age:

Child’s year at school:

Child’s gender:

Tell me about your experience at school? Tell me about your favourite teacher and the subject she teaches you? What do you recall about science subject in first grade up to third grade?

Who is your current science teacher? What is a science like for you? Do you enjoy the science class? What do you find most interesting about science? What is light and where does it come from?

Does the sun goes around the earth or the earth goes around the sun? What are some sources of light? Can the light be bend? Can light travel through a wall or dark thing?

Draw your shadow on this piece of paper. What is a shadow in your opinion? What causes a shadow? How did you come to figure out about that information regarding shadows?

If you want to make an object shadow what are the requirements that you need? You can know when it's daytime because you can see a lot of things like cars animals plant. When it's night time it’s very difficult to see these things. What do you think is the reason behind that? How does light help human being see things, how is that even possible, what is your point of view?

When you look in the mirror you will see a reflection of yourself, what causes that to happen? How does the mirror replicate your image?

How you know: quote the child, explain misconception & link to relevant academic literature

A child holds a misconception about the energy temperature and heat.

A child holds a misconception about the energy temperature and heat. Like many other misconceptions of objects producing their own heat, the child said that she always feel warm after putting on a sweater or putting on warm clothes. Childs believe that cold and heat are substance as opposed to being energy. With the child experience with fridge and coolers, they believe that cold can be transferred from one object to another. In relation to heat, here are some of the misconception held by the childs: heat is a substance rather than an energy. Some of the substance, when exposed to heat, cannot heat up.

Contrary to the misconception held by the child, heat is a form of energy. Heat originates from either the artificial sources or the natural sources. The universe has many light emission objects. The list below contains all things that are able for light emission: sun moon, stars. Artificial sources of light are those light that produced artificially. They are mostly known as the man-made light. These source of light can be categorized into three different sources. Luminescent sources, gas discharge sources, and Incandescent sources.

Reflection of Light

Childs have a misconception about the nature of light, the speed at which light travels image formation and behavior of light and color formation

Childs have a misconception about the nature of light, the speed at which light travels image formation and behavior of light and color formation.it is a misconception that light can only be reflected from surfaces that are shiny in nature. The child believes that an object cannot absorb and reflect ligh,.it only has the capability of doing one of the two. It is true that all objects do reflects the absorbed light to various degrees. One’s ability to see an object will depend on the reflection of light. The child’s had a misconception the light received on earth comes directly from the sun. The truth is that the sun is very far from planet earth. The sun does not heat directly the earth instead, the light from the sun is reflected and absorbed by earth object. The light that is absorbed usually increases the object energy, causing the object to heat up.

The child hitches with the light as an entity in space are pointed out as a problem in construction of image  ("Physics Topics - Sources of Light", 2016). Images have to go through a deconstruction to points of collection, each transmitted through means of the single light ray. In regards to how child’s think about the plane mirrors images and lens images, it is evident that majority of child’s believe that a participant can see an image if it lies only along his sight of view to the object. The child believes that the image will be viewed by diverse observers in a changed position. A similar misconception is displayed by (Galili and Hazan 2000).Some of the misconception displayed are, half image is produced by half lens, and the remaining image is blocked. The image is likely to become bigger or smaller depending on the position of the mirror, that is either towards or away. However, the image will still remain sharper.

The phenomenological misconception is the type of misconception that child’s associate it with misinterpretation of the natural phenomena. Some of this misconception include. Light needs air in order for its travel. Different light wavelength have different speed hence they have different energy and therefore different speed. The distance that light travels is dependent on either day or night. Our eyes produce light. These misconceptions have been acquired due to limited experience that the child has.

Refraction of Light

Learning Experience

Misconception addressed

Outline of Learning Experience

To make the child have a better understanding of light and shadows, an experiment has to be done.

Very early in the morning, take the children in an open field. Where there are no buildings or trees. Ask one child to stand on a drawn circle with a different direction. Have the second child draw around the shadow. Ask all childs to use there measuring tape to measure how long the shadow is. The activity should be repeated at various times of the day.

During the activity inquire from child’s where the light comes from. Is light different when in class or when outside class. Inquire from child’s why they get shadows and why does the shadow change length during the day?

My experience in conduction this research has been a successful one. I have had a great time with the children during the interview process. This process helped me sharpen my skills in setting interview questions and knowing how to handle different children personality. I have acquired a lot of confidence from the support I obtained from parents and teachers. During my time I have had the opportunity to exploit my strength to the fullest. The research has been possible due to my strength in planning, time management, and good working relationship. Through the research, I have been able to create a good relationship with the children. I made them feel comfortable that they were going to extent of asking questions and making learning more fun.

Through the research, it has been clear to me that science topics are majorly ignored and a lot of misconception formed due to lack of information. Another cause of misconception is the fact that when children ask a question about the certain subject they are misleading hence they grow up with an ignorant mentality. Science should be taught in experimental mode from childhood. The child’s should all be involved in the experiment part of learning as it makes the content easy to understand and reflect upon.

References

Course Outline Guide. (2015). Teaching and Learning Services (TLS). Retrieved 11 January 2018, from https://www.mcgill.ca/tls/teaching/course-design/outline

Galili, I., & Hazan, A. (2000). Learners' knowledge in optics: interpretation, structure and analysis. International Journal of Science Education, 22(1), 57-88.

Illuminating a common misconception about light and vision - LASER Classroom™. (2011). LASER Classroom™. Retrieved 11 January 2018, from https://laserclassroom.com/illuminating-a-common-misconception-about-light-and-vision/

Jus, j. (2018). Light Sources - Various Types Of Light Sources With Examples @Byjus. Physics. Retrieved 10 January 2018, from https://byjus.com/physics/light-sources/

Kennast, M. (2015). Addressing Misconceptions and Classroom control. carboncaps. Retrieved11January2018,from https://carboncaps.wordpress.com/2013/09/18/addressing-misconceptions-and-classroom-control/

Kirillova, E. N., Andersson, A., Han, J., Lee, M., & Gustafsson, Ö. (2014). Sources and light absorption of water-soluble organic carbon aerosols in the outflow from northern China. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 14(3), 1413-1422.

Light Absorption, Reflection, and Transmission. (2016). Physicsclassroom.com. Retrieved 10 January 2018, from https://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/light/Lesson-2/Light-Absorption,-Reflection,-and-Transmission

Meena, A. (2016). NCERT Class VII Science Chapter 15 Light. AglaSem Schools. Retrieved 10 January 2018, from https://schools.aglasem.com/5495

Physics Topics - Sources of Light. (2016). Physicshandbook.com. Retrieved 11 January 2018, from https://www.physicshandbook.com/topic/topics/sourcelight.htm

Reflection, Transmission, and Absorption. (2016). Light-measurement.com. Retrieved 10 January 2018, from https://light-measurement.com/reflection-absorption/

Sadler, W. (2016). Exploring light and shadows -. science made simple. Retrieved 11 January 2018, from https://www.sciencemadesimple.co.uk/curriculum-blogs/primary-blogs/light_and_shadows

Summary · Light energy. (2016). Qknowbooks.gitbooks.io. Retrieved 10 January 2018, from https://qknowbooks.gitbooks.io/jhs_1_science-light-energy/summary.html

A Summary of Content Skills Learning Experiences - Office of Curriculum, Learning Design, and Academic Assessment - Northern Arizona University. (2014). Nau.edu. Retrieved 11 January 2018, from https://nau.edu/provost/ocldaa/dpe---purpose-statement/a-summary-of-content-skills-learning-experiences/

Transmission of Light: Definition & Overview - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com. (2017).Study.com.Retrieved10January2018,from https://study.com/academy/lesson/transmission-of-light-definition-lesson-quiz.html

What is light?.(2015). TheSchoolRun. Retrieved 10 January 2018, from https://www.theschoolrun.com/what-is-light