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Grade 4 Science · World 6: Light Lab · Level 41
Bending Light
Explain refraction with a glass of water, a prism, eyeglasses, and a magnifying glass.
Warm-up, learn, try it together, practice, then a quick check. About 15 minutes.
What children learn in Level 41
- Light travels straight, until it passes from one material into another. Then it bends. That bending is called refraction.
- Put a pencil in a glass of water. It looks broken at the surface! The pencil is fine. The light coming from it bends.
- A prism bends each color of light a different amount. White light goes in, and a band of colors comes out.
- Curved glass bends light too. A magnifying glass makes small things look bigger.
- Eyeglasses have lenses that bend light, so it lands in the right place in the eye and words look clear.
- Try it with a grown-up: put a spoon in a clear glass of water and look from the side. What do you notice?
Georgia Standards of Excellence in Science:
- S4P1.c — Plan and carry out an investigation utilizing everyday materials to explore examples of when light is refracted. (Clarification statement: Everyday materials could include prisms, eyeglasses, and a glass of water.)