Welcome to the Museum Express Light Fantastic show! It’s illuminating…and enlightening and well - quite brilliant!
Age: Years 4-7
Program Length: 30-45 minutes
Audience: Up to 2 classes per show (approx 60 students)
Program overview
Students will:
- Learn about light in the electromagnetic spectrum
- Be introduced to visible and invisible light
- Explore different ways to generate light
- Be given their own diffraction grating to split light into its constituent colours
- Learn of the different things light can do
- Develop their scientific skills of: Enquiry, Prediction, Observation, Explanation.
Requirements
- 1x power outlets
- Space requirements: 3m x 3m.
Curriculum links
Formal ACS substrands
Chemical, physical, earth and space science
Links with Overarching Ideas
- Matter and Energy - Light as a form of energy. Chemical reactions produce heat and light, Transformation of energy from electricity to light. Light can transmit information.
- Scale and measurement - Measurement of speed, colour temperature
- Patterns order and organisation – different colours of light, arranged in terms of energy
- Earth and space sciences – size of the universe, speed of Earth’s motion through galaxy
Curriculum sections
- Light from a source forms shadows and can be absorbed, reflected and refracted (ACSSU080)
- Light and sound are produced by a range of sources and can be sensed (ACSSU020)
- Science involves asking questions about, and describing changes in, objects and events (ACSHE034)
- Science involves asking questions about, and describing changes in, objects and events (ACSHE021)
- Scientific understandings, discoveries and inventions are used to solve problems that directly affect peoples’ lives (ACSHE083).
NSW Curriculum Outcomes: ST2-1VA, ST3-1VA, ST2-4WS, ST3-4WS, ST2-6PW, ST2-7PW, ST3-6PW, ST3-7PW, ST2-13MW, ST3-12MW, ST3-13MW
Extensions
There are heaps of exciting things students and teachers can do with light following this show! Here are some suggestions:
In class and at home
Learn about light at Newcastle Museum
There are a whole lot of related things to check out at Newcastle Museum.
- Can you throw faster than the speed limit? Test your arm against the Doppler speed camera in Supernova…
- Did you know that one of the world’s biggest manufacturers of light globes was based in Newcastle? Learn about ELMA – one of Newcastle’s biggest employers and see some of the massive light globes they made.
- Are you the centre of your universe? See the planets orbit the sun with a replica 18th Century orrery.
- See how light from the sun and stars lets us find our direction with the Museum’s collection of a sextant, octant and telescope.
- See a Jacobs Ladder throw off sparks, learn about magnetic fields, electricity, light and heaps more at Supernova.
Did you know?
- Light from the Sun takes eight minutes to reach the Earth!
- Bees can see in the ultraviolet light!
- The internet is largely communicated across the world in optic-fibres with infrared light!