Shed some light on the nature of shadows! Science sleuths investigate a 200-year-old theory that light will form a bright spot in the center of a sphere's or circle's shadow with a video from Veritasium. The resource explains the historical viewpoints of the theory, shows several different attempts at proving or disproving the theory, and the properties of light that make the phenomenon possible.

Concepts

light, shadows, diffraction, light waves, properties of waves, optics, spheres, circles

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Additional Tags

science

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Instructional Ideas

• Incorporate the video into a lesson about the properties of light
• Recreate the famed experiment as a demonstration or ask pupils to design their own versions
  

Classroom Considerations

• Discuss the dual wave-particle nature of light, as well as key terms that describe light waves, before watching
  

• This video is hosted on YouTube

Pros

• Illustrates the importance of testing a theory before passing judgement upon its content
• Narrator uses diagrams and visual aids to help convey the behavior of light and how the bright spot forms

Cons

• None

Common Core

SL.9-10.2