Mitzi, Juni, and Ailee are working on a school project. Their project is about light. For their school project they have to explain how light passes through different objects. The objects they will be experimenting with are gummy bears, a spoon, and a half filled water bottle that has a straw in it. They will use a laser to experiment how light travels through objects.

Mitzi chooses to study the gummy bears.

As Mitzi carefully points the laser at the gummy bears she pauses and says, " Hmm, that's odd. The gummy bear stopped the laser light. The laser light didn't go all the way through the gummy bear". Mitzi then records her findings in her journal.

While Mitzi is writing her notes down, Juni picks up the spoon and says "I'm going to study the spoon".

Their teacher Ms.Jones walks by and says, "Good choice, just be careful when working with the laser. You will lay the spoon on the desk and with your arm stretched out you will point the laser down at the spoon and record your results in your journal". Mitzi nods her head in agreement and says "Ok, Got it".

Ailee grabs the water bottle, sets it on her desk, and starts staring at it. Ms. Jones comes by her desk and asks her, "Well, what do you see?" Ailee responds with uncertainty, "Uhmm, a bent straw?"

Ms. Jones says "Ok, good observation keep up the good work", and continues monitoring the class as they conduct their experiments.

After 10 minutes of students studying their objects, Ms. Jones claps her hands three times which signals the students to give her their attention. Ms.Jones asks the students, "What happened with the Gummy Bears?" Many students raise their hands while others shout out their answers. Ms.Jones records their responses on the board. She continues with the discussion and asks the students what their results were for the spoon and bottled water with a straw.

Gummy bear : -Stopped it

-Didn't go through

-Blended with it

spoon : -bounced off

-shiny

-shined somewhere else

Water bottle w/ straw : -straw bent

-different angle

Ms. Jones applauds the students for their great observations. She then gives her students a sheet of paper that has some vocabulary on it and asks them to choose which description best fits what happened to their object. As the students study the vocabulary and determine which description best fits their experiment, Ms.Jones writes three definitions on the board.

Reflection-when light hits smooth and shiny surfaces, the light changes directions and a mirror image is reflected.

Refraction- when light bends as it passes from one substance to another.

Absorption- when light hits a surface some of the colors are absorbed and the human eye can only see colors that are reflected