Illumination Stations

In year 6 this half term, we have been learning about light. Each week we have done an experiment to learn about how light behaves and how we see it. The first lesson was about shadows and we discovered that the length of a shadow decreases as the distance between the object and the light source increases. In the second lesson, we learnt about solar eclipses and the different types (umbra, antumbra and penumbra). Then we did an experiment to see what would change about the eclipse if the moon was further away, the moon was a different size or if the sun was smaller. The third lesson was about what happens when light hits different materials. We found objects in the classroom and shone a torch on them to find which were transparent, opaque, translucent and reflective. We also looked at aluminium foil when it was not scrunched and when it was to see if the light was more scattered. In the fourth lesson, we mixed different materials into water to see what would happen to the light. We found that glitter makes it reflective, salt makes it translucent and talcum powder makes it opaque. The fifth lesson was about eyes, how they work and how nocturnal animals have eyes adapted to the time of day they are active. In the sixth and final lesson, we did and experiment to see the path light takes before it reaches our eyes. We made mirror mazes, trying to find a viewpoint where you could see the torchlight in the final mirror.

The unit on light was fascinating and we learnt a lot about something our brains are constantly doing all the time – seeing!

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