Don't shine like a diamond, refract light like a diamond. Young scientists use an acrylic block and a laser light to observe refraction. Advanced scholars figure the sine of the angles of reflection and incidence as well as mastering Snell's Law. A reading passage and homework questions round out the lesson.

Concepts

refraction, angle of refraction, light refraction, the index of refraction

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Additional Tags

science

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Instructional Ideas

• After the lesson, circle back to give learners the answer to the introductory question
• Moissanite, a synthetic diamond, passes all but one test to differentiate it from natural diamonds; ask pupils to identify that test and figure out if the property is important

Classroom Considerations

• Review laser safety before the activity
• Though the resource includes lessons six and seven, this review is only for Refraction of Light; pupils review lesson seven separately
• Lesson six in a series of eight

• This resource is only available on an unencrypted HTTP website.It should be fine for general use, but don’t use it to share any personally identifiable information

Pros

• Includes vocabulary throughout the lesson
• Provides extension opportunities

Cons

• Resource does not provide an answer key
• Document permissions do not allow for printing
  

Common Core

RST.6-8.3 RST.9-10.3 RST.11-12.3