Primary Type: Lesson Plan
Status: Published
This is a resource from CPALMS (www.cpalms.org) where all educators go for bright ideas!
Resource ID#: 76442
5E Refraction Inquiry Lab
In this lesson plan students learn about the property of light: refraction. The lesson begins with an engage demo placing a pencil in a glass of water.
The students will be able to witness the effects of refraction. After answering a few questions the students are split into partners for the explore
portion of the lesson. The students place a penny on the bottom of an opaque cup then step back until they cannot see the penny. The partner
then slowly pours water into the cup until the penny comes into site (record data). The teacher leads the class in a classroom discussion about their
findings. The teacher then explains what refraction is and why it happens. For the elaborate portion of the lesson students are asked to explain how
to spearfish from a riverbank. There is a short quiz for the summative assessment.
Subject(s): Science
Grade Level(s): 7
Intended Audience: Educators
Suggested Technology: Computer for Presenter,
Internet Connection
Instructional Time: 1 Hour(s) 30 Minute(s)
Resource supports reading in content area: Yes
Freely Available: Yes
Keywords: Refraction, Interactions of light, 5E Lesson, Inquiry Lab
Resource Collection: FCR-STEMLearn Physical Sciences
LESSON CONTENT
Lesson Plan Template: Learning Cycle (5E Model)
Learning Objectives: What will students know and be able to do as a result of this lesson?
The students will be able to distinguish between reflection, refraction, and absorption, and be able to apply the information they learned about refraction to a real life
situation.
Prior Knowledge: What prior knowledge should students have for this lesson?
Prior Knowledge:
The students will use what they previously learned on this standard to understand the new content on refraction.
SC.7.P.10.2 Observe and explain that light can be reflected, refracted, and/or absorbed.
Students know that visible light is made up all of the primary colors of light: ROY G BIV where each color represents a range of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Students know that light travels in a straight line until it strikes another object or substance.
Students know that light is a form of energy.
Students are familiar with the terms opaque, translucent, and transparent and how light interacts with materials with each of these properties.
Students know that reflection and absorption determines the colors of non radiating objects. Misconceptions: Light is matter. In refraction, the characteristics of
light change. In refraction, the frequency (color) of light changes.
Misconceptions:
Light is a particle.
In refraction, the characteristics of light change.
In refraction, the frequency (color) of light changes.
Refraction is the bending of waves.
page 1 of 4 Guiding Questions: What are the guiding questions for this lesson?
What do you predict will happen to your perception of the pencil when it is placed halfway in a glass of water?
Students' predictions: nothing will happen, the pencil will look magnified, the pencil will look broken.
What happens to the appearance of a pencil when it is placed in the water?
The pencil appears to be broken where the air meets the water.
Does light behave the same way in all types of media : gas, liquid, solid? Explain that media refers to more than one medium.
No, light travels the fastest through gas, and the slower through liquids and solids respectively.
How can knowing about refraction help someone spearfish from a riverbank?
Light bends when it enters the water. This is due to refraction. In order to hit the fish below the surface of the water, you must take into account that the fish is
actually in a different position than you perceive from above the water. You would have to aim in front of the fish to actually hit it.
Engage: What object, event, or questions will the teacher use to trigger the students' curiosity and engage them in the concepts?
The Teacher will:
Explain to the student that he/she is going to place a pencil in a transparent glass with water in it.
He/she will ask them to predict what they think will happen to how they see the pencil.
He/she will then fill a clear cup ¾ the way full with water, and place a pencil in the water.
The teacher will facilitate a classroom discussion about the demonstration by posing the questions: What do you notice about the pencil once it's in the water? Does
this match your prediction? Why do you think this happens?
Explore: What will the students do to explore the concepts and skills being developed through the lesson?
The Teacher will:
Split students up into predetermined teams/partners and have them move to their lab stations.
Have the students use the worksheet to begin the cup and penny experiment.
Walk around the room listening to students converse and asking the students probing questions: What do you see? How is that possible? Why do you think this is
happening? How much water did you need to see the penny?
Refraction Lab Worksheet.docx
Explain: What will the students and teacher do so students have opportunities to clarify their ideas, reach a conclusion or
generalization, and communicate what they know to others?
The Teacher will:
Have the students return to their assigned seats.
Facilitate group discussions about their observations in the lab. The teacher will ask the students to discuss their answers to the questions on the worksheet.
The teacher will then relate the lab to students' prior knowledge: Does light travel in a straight line? (yes) (classroom discussion).
Pose question: Does light travel in a straight line when transitioning from one medium to another (air/water/glass)? (no)
Then show a short video clip of Refraction of light from air to glass.
Explain to he students that light bends when it moves from one medium to another. The bending of light rays is called refraction. Since water is denser than air,
when the light passed through the water it bent allowing you to see the penny at the bottom of the cup.
Have the students complete the diagram at the bottom of the Refraction Lab worksheet.
After students have completed their diagrams, go over the correct way to complete the diagram.
Pose the question: Does the light bend toward or away from the dashed line that is perpendicular to (90 degrees from) the surface of the water? (toward)
RefractionLabWithDiagramAnswers.docx
Elaborate: What will the students do to apply their conceptual understanding and skills to solve a problem, make a decision,
perform a task, or make sense of new knowledge?
Use the diagram you drew, along with what you learned from the lab about refraction to answer this question: If you are spearfishing from a riverbank and you see a
fish in the water, do you need to aim above, at, or below the fish that you see in order to hit it? Defend your answer in three or more well written sentences. You can
draw a diagram to help explain.
Answer should include: Light bends when it enters the water. This is due to refraction. In order to actually hit the fish , you must take into account that the fish is
actually in a different position than you perceive from above the water. Since light going from air to water bends toward the "normal" or an imaginary line that is 90
degrees to the surface of the water, you should aim in front of the fish to hit it.
page 2 of 4 Summative Assessment
A short quiz will be used as a summative assessment to determine if the students require more instruction on this topic.
Summative Assessment- Interactions of Light.docx
Formative Assessment
During the Engage portion of this lesson the teacher should be listening to the students discuss the answers to the two questions posed with the demo: What do you
notice about the pencil once it's in the water? Why do you think this happens? The teacher should elicit the prior knowledge by asking them to use what they know
about light to try to explain why the pencil appears distorted. This formative assessment will give the teacher an idea of who should be paired with whom.
During the Explore, or lab portion, of this lesson the teacher will be looking for the signs that students are doing and understanding science. The teacher will pose
probing questions to get an understanding of how much each pair grasps the idea of refraction: What do you see? How is that possible? Why do you think this is
happening? How much water did you need to see the penny? I wonder what would happen if you put more water in the cup? This formative assessment should serve as
an opportunity for the teacher to both redirect students, as well as take note of which groups will need more one on one time during the explain portion.
For the Explain portion of the lesson the teacher will be listening to the students' explanations of their observations. How did the water enable you to see the penny in
the bottom of the cup? How much water did you need for the whole penny to be visible? We know that light travels in a straight line until it strikes another object, but
what happens to light when it strikes that object? This will give an idea of how well the students understand the content. Then the teacher will explain that light bends
when it moves from one substance to another. The bending of light rays is called refraction. Since water is denser than air, when the light passed through the water it
bent allowing you to see the penny at the bottom of the cup.
During the Elaborate portion of the lesson, the teacher will ask the students to use what they learned about light refraction to answer the question: If you are
spearfishing from a riverbank and you see a fish in the water, do you need to aim above, at, or below the fish that you see in order to hit it? The teacher will look over
the students written answers to the elaborate question. This is the last chance to address any misconceptions before the summative assessment.
Feedback to Students
The students will receive feedback on performance during the Explore, or lab, portion. The teacher will let them know if their behavior meets, or is below
expectations. They will also receive feedback during the explain discussion portion. The feedback during the explain discussion portion will be less formal. This is
where the students can verify if their ideas on the concept are correct. The teacher will provide more formal written feedback when they answer the written elaborate
question. This is the last chance to address any misconceptions before the summative assessment.
ACCOMMODATIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS
Accommodations:
Students will be working in pairs. Any student needing additional assistance should be paired with a student who has a firm understanding of the prior knowledge.
Any students with English as a second language should be assigned to a partner that they are buddied up with, language wise, to help them
Extensions:
To extend this lesson, the lab can be done comparing liquids with a different index of refraction: water and cooking oil.
Photo taken from: www.aplusphysics.com
Suggested Technology: Computer for Presenter, Internet Connection
Special Materials Needed:
Materials & Safety (24 students):
Teacher:
Clear glass
Water
Pencil
Students:
page 3 of 4 12 opaque cups
12 pennies
12 graduated cylinders
12 500 mL beakers
12 meter sticks
Water
Tape
Further Recommendations:
You may have to go to YouTube on a home computer and download the video to show your students. Some districts do not allow school computers to access the site.
Additional Information/Instructions
By Author/Submitter
This lesson only covers the refraction portion of the standard: SC.7.P.10.2 Observe and explain that light can be reflected, refracted, and/or absorbed. This lesson is to be
taught after reflection and absorption.
SOURCE AND ACCESS INFORMATION
Contributed by: Brittiny Albertson
Name of Author/Source: Brittiny Albertson
District/Organization of Contributor(s): St. Lucie
Is this Resource freely Available? Yes
Access Privileges: Public
License: CPALMS License - no distribution - non commercial
Related Standards
Name
SC.7.P.10.2:
Description
Observe and explain that light can be reflected, refracted, and/or absorbed.
page 4 of 4