Light and Light Technologies
Photo-teaching resource
Introduction
This photo teaching resource accompanies our
Global Wallplanner for 2014-15. We have chosen
the theme of ‘Light’ for this year’s wallplanner
photos because 2015 has been designated
International Year of Light and Light-based
Technologies by the United Nations.
Key Stage 2 & 3 Curriculum Links
We have grouped the photos into the following
different categories, with ideas for activities and
further reading for each category:
• Light and Global Development
(Design & Technology, Geography, Science)
• Light in Nature
(Art & Design, D&T, Geography, Science)
• Light Science and Technology
(Computing, D&T, History, Science)
• Light and Culture
(Art & Design, Drama, History, RE, Science)
We have provided teachers and students at all
levels with stimulus to spark class discussion and
prompt further research.
Light is the ultimate source of life and energy for
most living things on Earth. Our increased
understanding of light and the electro-magnetic
spectrum has resulted in important steps forward in
development.
The International Year of Light and Light-Based
Technologies is a global initiative adopted by the
United Nations to raise awareness of how optical
technologies promote sustainable development and
provide solutions to worldwide challenges in
energy, education, agriculture, communications and
health. It aims to highlight to the citizens of the
world the importance of light and optical
technologies in their lives, for their futures and for
the development of society.
More info: www.light2015.org | light2015blog.org/
Photo activities
Within this PDF you can click on each photo to access a
larger version online that you can use to create a photo
display in class or in the school reception.
Here are some further activities you could consider:
• Use a photo for stimulus at the start of your lesson.
• Use all or a group of photos as part of a themed day
on light.
• Show students a small part of the photo; ask what
they think is in the rest of the picture and why.
• Suggest that pupils choose a photo to create a
greetings card, explaining why they’ve chosen that
photo and what it means to them.
• Use photos as part of a take-home/homework
activity to engage parents.
• Ask your pupils to bring in pictures to show their
own perspectives on light.
• Ask students to stick a photo in the middle of a large
sheet of paper and annotate it with what they can
see or questions they have: what, why, where, how,
who, etc.
• Ask students to pick a photo at the start or end of a
lesson / unit and explain why that image best
describes how they feel or what they've learnt.
Critical thinking:
• Try using our 10 Critical Questions for Global
Learning as a way to analyse an image:
globaldimension.org.uk/news/item/18690
• Or use Tide’s Development Compass Rose to
analyse a photo’s natural, social, economic and
political dimensions: bit.ly/tidecompass (PDF).
• See also GLP Images, Values and Perceptions:
globaldimension.org.uk/glp/page/10753
This resource supports the Global Learning Programme:
enhancing knowledge of sustainable development,
business and technology; developing critical thinking,
enquiry and discussion skills.
It can also add a global element to work your school may
be doing towards Eco Schools and Green Flag Awards.
Light and Light Technologies - Photo-teaching resource
Light and Global Development
Solar power and energy poverty
BELOW: The sun shines brightly over Knoxville, Tennessee
Design & Technology | Geography | Science
© UN Photo/R Kollar
More and more countries and businesses are harnessing
the sun's energy for domestic and commercial use. Use
these pictures and links to explore how solar power is
supporting sustainable development.
BELOW: Children in Kenya celebrate a solar water
pump providing clean water after years of drought.
Read about the Indian college producing village solar
Engineers. The Barefoot College in Rajasthan is breaking
down ethnic, social and caste barriers and is helping
reduce the country's reliance on fossil fuels by providing
training courses in solar engineering: bit.ly/gusolareng
Practical Action is a charity that uses technology to
challenge poverty in developing countries. These photos
illustrate their work in Kenya and Peru.
© Practical Action/Andy Heath
Read about Practical Action’s work in Kenya, including
the installation of solar-powered water pumps in Turkana:
practicalaction.org/solar-powered-water-pumps
BELOW: A woman and solar panel at the school in
Quenamari, Peru, which provides hot water
shower facilities for the community.
Read about Practical Action’s work developing
renewable energy in Latin America:
practicalaction.org/renewable-energy-latin-america
And check out the following Practical Action teaching
resources:
• Renewable energy
practicalaction.org/renewable-energy-resources
• Renewable energy challenge
practicalaction.org/moja-island-1
• Technology justice
practicalaction.org/schoolstechnologyjustice
© Practical Action Peru
This Guardian photo gallery shows the impact of solar
power arriving in the remote Puno region of Peru,
meaning that the school now has electricity, internet
access and computers: bit.ly/gusolarperu
The Ashden Awards support green energy champions
in the UK and the developing world. Check out these
case studies, film clips and links:
Off Grid Electric www.ashden.org/winners/OffGrid14
Mobile money powers solar expansion in Tanzania.
Barefoot Power www.ashden.org/winners/Barefoot12
Affordable solar products in Uganda.
Light and Light Technologies - Photo-teaching resource
Light and Global Development
Solar power and energy poverty
Design & Technology | Geography | Science
© Tomislav Georgiev / World Bank
One aspect of International Year of Light 2015 is the
‘Study after Sunset’ programme, which has the aim of
bringing affordable solar lighting to some of the many
homes in Africa which don’t currently have easy or
affordable access to energy.
Ask your class to consider what problems they might
face if their home didn’t have a proper power supply.
How would they get around these problems?
To get a feeling for what life can be like without access to a reliable
power supply, take a look at Life without Lights, a photojournalism
project by Peter DiCampo. He has visited and photographed people
living in ‘energy poverty’ in Ghana, New Mexico, Kurdistan, Nepal
and the UK. www.lifewithoutlights.com
Check out the Life Empowered – Energy Poverty infographic from
One, for a quick exploration of the issues: www.one.org/us/energy
See also our feature on Sustainable Energy Year for more ideas:
www.globaldimension.org.uk/news/item/14339
BELOW: Light ‘bulb’ made from a plastic bottle
© Dominic Sansoni / World Bank
BELOW: Solar energy is used to light this village shop
in Sri Lanka.
ABOVE: High peak demand for energy in FYR Macedonia can
result in power outages around the country. Here a young child
does homework by lamplight in a home outside of Skopje.
A plastic bottle filled with water (with a bit of bleach to prevent a buildup of algae) and fixed into a hole in the roof, provides a cheap source of
light for people – often those living in ‘slums’ and shanty towns – who
can’t afford to light their homes with electricity. Read more on the BBC
website: www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23536914
© Joimson
Can your pupils come up with the advantages and disadvantages of this
type of lighting? (Hint: it only works when the sun shines!)
Here’s another ‘low-tech’ lighting solution: In Kenya’s Masai community
where 13-year-old Richard Turere lives, cattle are all-important. But lion
attacks were growing more frequent. In this short, inspiring talk, the
young inventor shares the solar-powered solution he designed to safely
scare the lions away.
www.ted.com/talks/richard_turere_a_peace_treaty_with_the_lions
Light and Light Technologies - Photo-teaching resource
Light in Nature
Midnight sun, aurorae, eclipse, weather
Geography | Science
BELOW: A penguin dances under the
midnight sun in Antarctica
This BBC Learning Zone class clip
explains the science of the
‘midnight sun’: bit.ly/bbcorbit
The northern and southern lights
(aurorae borealis and australis)
arise when electrically charged
particles from the sun collide with
atmospheric gas atoms, giving off
light. More info on Planet Science:
bit.ly/psaurora
BELOW: Sunrise partial solar eclipse, Virginia
© NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
© Christopher Michel bit.ly/cmsouth
Get more info and teaching ideas
in our feature on Antarctica:
globaldimension.org.uk/news/
item/15854
Have your students ever seen an aurora display? Where do they think they
would have to go to see one? In February 2014 a strong solar event resulted
in aurorae sightings all over the UK: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-26378027
© Bill Dickinson www.skynoir.com
A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes
between the Earth and the Sun, so obscuring our view
of the Sun. This BBC Learning Zone class clip shows a
solar eclipse in Varanasi, India: bit.ly/bbclzeclipse
Can your students imagine what it would be like to
experience an eclipse if they didn’t know what it was?
Can your students find out how many solar eclipses
there will be during the 21st century?
BELOW: Lightning, Florida
Check out the following weather links:
• Met Office Extreme
weather:
bit.ly/moextreme
• Met Office What is
lightning? Poster:
bit.ly/moposter
• Atmospheric Optics
Rainbows:
www.atoptics.co.uk/
bows.htm
• Primary upd8 Seeing
rainbows:
www.primaryupd8.org.uk/
Activity: Ask your students to share their
activity.php?actid=94
experiences of seeing lightning or rainbows.
BELOW: Rainbow on the way to Ladakh
© Rajesh
© Duane Schoon
BELOW: Aurora borealis
over Icelandic mountains
Light and Light Technologies - Photo-teaching resource
Light in Nature
Iridescence, photosynthesis, bioluminescence
Art & Design | Design & Technology | Science
Rosemary Leaf Beetle on a lavender plant
Peacock feather
© Bill Gracey
© Xerones
© Matthew Kirkland
Abalone shell
Iridescence can be found throughout nature, and tends to make us smile – so many colours, so beautiful! It comes
about through ’interference’ between light waves causing colours to intensify. This blog from Brooklyn has a
great explanation and activity ideas: teachgreenbk.wordpress.com/2012/07/26/experience-iridescence/
Webexhibits is also a great site to explore how colours come about: www.webexhibits.org/causesofcolor/
Looking for examples of iridescence in nature is a great ‘learning outside the classroom’ activity!
Photosynthesis is the process by which
plants use the energy from sunlight to
create nutrients from carbon dioxide
and water, and thus grow.
The following YouTube clips explain the
process, and are quite fun to watch and
sing along to:
• The Photosynthesis Song
youtu.be/C1_uez5WX1o
• Another Photosynthesis Song
youtu.be/lDwUVpOEoE4
• Photosynthesis Rap
youtu.be/pE82qtKSSH4
Could your pupils compose a song too?
Daisies reaching for the light
© Mike Bitzenhofer
Photosynthesis is the planet’s most efficient way to convert sunlight to energy.
Wouldn’t it be great if humans could do it? This BBC Future article asks if we ever
will: bit.ly/bbcfutpho How Stuff Works explores this too: bit.ly/hswartpho
Glowing jellyfish
Bioluminescence is light created by living organisms, such as this jellyfish, glowworms and fireflies. Can your pupils come up with other examples? BBC Nature
has some great film clips: www.bbc.co.uk/nature/adaptations/Bioluminescence
Scientists are finding ways in which bioluminescence can help solve problems.
Biologist Anne Glover has pioneered a technique whereby glow-in-the-dark
microbes can show if land is polluted – an idea that came to her after seeing tiny
glowing creatures while swimming at night in the Algarve (listen here, 11min11sec
in: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03y0qcr.)
Similarly, glowing bacteria can also help detect land mines: bit.ly/bbcmine And
bioluminescent organisms may also help doctors scan human organs and make
better diagnoses: bit.ly/gubiolum Can your pupils come up with any more uses?
© Vince
© Pete
Sunlight through leaves
Light and Light Technologies - Photo-teaching resource
Light Science and Technology
Sundial, lighthouse, prism, kaleidoscope
Design & Technology | History | Science
BELOW: Sundial at Morven House, Princeton, USA
Humans have used the sun to tell the time for thousands
of years. There is archaeological evidence of Egyptians
and Babylonians using shadow clocks 3,500 years ago.
© Peter Miller
• How Stuff Works – How did ancient civilizations use
sundials to tell time? bit.ly/hswsundials
• This website explains how to make wall sundials:
sundial.damia.net/vertical/sundial.html
• And Royal Museums Greenwich explain how to make
a human sundial: www.rmg.co.uk/file/12975
For more ideas on exploring ways we measure time, read
through our Time, clocks and calendars feature:
globaldimension.org.uk/news/item/17002
BELOW: Boars Head Lighthouse, Nova Scotia, Canada
Lighthouses dot the world’s coastlines, acting as navigation
aids to ships: warning them of hazards or helping them
manoeuvre into port. For hundreds of years they have
quietly supported global trade.
BELOW: Crystals acting as prisms
splitting light into different colours
Established 500 years ago, Trinity House regulates lighthouses in England and Wales, see: trinityhouse.co.uk/
news_info/education/education_resources.html and
Safe At Sea trinityhouse.co.uk/safeatsea/ (primary schools)
This Guardian Teacher Network blog,
How to teach… light has some useful
ideas and resources: bit.ly/gtnlight
© Katinka Bille Lindahl
The Royal Society Invigorate website
explains Isaac Newton’s work on
colour and tells you how to make a
rainbow (KS2): bit.ly/rsinvcolour
But 700 years before Newton, the
Arabic scientist Ibn al-Haytham was
the first to explain how we see
objects and discovered the laws of
refraction. Read more in this BBC
News article by Prof Jim Al-Khalili:
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7810846.stm
A kaleidoscope is a great way to
explore colours and reflections.
Here are some instructions to make
a ‘kitchen roll’ kaleidoscope:
www.minieco.co.uk/kitchen-rollkaleidoscope/
BELOW: Inside a kaleidoscope
© Crystal A Murray
© Dennis Jarvis
• How Stuff Works explains how lighthouses work and
their history bit.ly/hswlighthouse
• The Library of Congress explains how a lighthouse beam
is magnified: bit.ly/loclighthouse
Light and Light Technologies - Photo-teaching resource
Light Science and Technology
Fibre optics, LASERs
© Ben Felten
© Ben Felten
Computing | History | Science
Fibre optics is a communication technology that makes use of light to carry data and information.
TeachICT.com explains how fibre optic communication works here:
www.teach-ict.com/technology_explained/fibre_optic_communication/fibre_optic_communication.html
How Stuff Works is also helpful: electronics.howstuffworks.com/question402.htm
This Teacher’s Corner experiment uses water and a mirror to explain how light travels through fibre optics:
lesson-plans.theteacherscorner.net/science/experiments/lglass.php And here’s a great little film using strips
of jelly (yum!) to show a similar thing: curiosity.discovery.com/question/fiber-optic-cables-work
Did you know our eyes actually have ‘living optical fibres’? sciencemuseum.org.uk/antenna/opticfibreeyes/
© Douglas Muth
LASER stands for Light Amplification by Stimulated
Emission of Radiation. A laser is a powerful beam of
electromagnetic radiation, which can be made from
visible light, x-rays, ultraviolet light or infrared light.
Optics for Kids explains it simply:
optics.synopsys.com/learn/kids/optics-kids-aboutlasers.html
Planet Science has a more in-depth explanation with
film clips: bit.ly/pslasers
Find out more about how lasers are used with this
PDF booklet Lasers in our Lives, from the Science &
Technology Facilities Council:
www.stfc.ac.uk/publications/PDF/Lasers.pdf
Light and Light Technologies - Photo-teaching resource
Light and Culture
Festivals, fireworks, fire
History | Religious Education | Science
© KennardP
Candles at Hannukkah
© Len “Doc” Radin
A Hallowe’en lantern
© William Warby
Diwali in Guyana
Lights, fire and candles are used all around the world to mark cultural and religious festivals. It’s easy to see
how light and fire have come to symbolise the triumph of good over evil, and in many religions light is a
metaphor for God. Your pupils could research all the different festivals that use light, or they could explore
the different ways in which light is used to represent goodness or truth.
You can find lots of ideas in our Festivals of Light feature: globaldimension.org.uk/news/item/16184
BELOW: Fireworks in Helsinki, 2010
It is thought that fireworks were invented in China
well over a thousand years ago. Gunpowder is used
to create their explosions, and other chemicals are
used to propel them and give them colour.
© Less Than 3
• Planet Science – How do fireworks work?
bit.ly/psfireworks
• How Stuff Works – How Fireworks Work
bit.ly/hswfireworks
Activity: Ask your pupils to research which
celebrations around the world use fireworks.
BELOW: Fire poi performance, San Francisco
© John Curley
‘Poi’ originated in Māori culture (but made from plant
materials, not fire!). You can see Māori poi in this clip,
Poi-E, which was a big hit in New Zealand in 1984 and
2010: www.nzonscreen.com/title/poi-e-1983
As poi has been adopted by performers around the
world it has become far more fiery and exciting!
Discussion: What kind of precautions do your pupils
think fire performers would need to take to stay safe?
“Fire is a good servant but a bad master.”
Can your pupils list the positive and negative aspects of
fire? What other fire-related proverbs can they find?
Light and Light Technologies - Photo-teaching resource
Light and Culture
Shadow puppets, city lights, the Earth at night
Art & Design | Drama | Science
BELOW: Shadow puppets from Java, Indonesia
Shadow puppetry is a traditional art form in Indonesia,
with many of the plays originating from the Hindu epic
Mahabharata. The BBC’s A History of the World in 100
Objects explores why a Hindu epic is performed by
Muslims in Java: bit.ly/bbc100bima
© Seema Krishnakumar
More ideas and activities from the following links:
• BBC Learning Zone Class Clips – Shadow puppets:
bit.ly/bbclzshadow
• The Bill Douglas Cinema Museum – Shadows and
Shadow Puppets: bit.ly/bdcmusshadow
• Heleen Van Rossum – Teaching (with) Shadow
puppetry: bit.ly/hvrshadow
BELOW: City and traffic lights at sunset in Jakarta
© JK-ID001 World Bank
© Curt Carnemark / World Bank
BELOW: Moroccan city at night
Questions for discussion: What do you think your city, town or village looks like at night from above? How has
this changed from 50 years ago? 100 years ago? What about other towns and cities, in other countries?
According to NASA, “The night is nowhere near as dark as most of us think. In fact, the Earth is never really
dark; it twinkles with lights from humans and nature.” What sources of light can your students think of?
Some people (especially stargazers)
feel that light from towns at night is
‘polluting’ the skies. It’s getting harder
to see the stars, as this BBC News
article explains: www.bbc.co.uk/
news/magazine-16470744
The Campaign for Dark Skies has a
Guide for Young Adults which
explores this issue in more depth:
bit.ly/cfdsyaguide (PDF)
© NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Find out more via these NASA night-time photos: earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/NightLights/
BELOW: The Earth at night – composite photo from NASA