By Buzz Putnam Whitesboro High School, NY

Who is Arbor Scientific?

Educational research has shown that “pounding” concepts into students’ heads through lecture only does not result in positive student learning and long- term retention of the concepts This Should Do It!

Variety of Methods Many concepts in science are not well-understood so a variety of teaching methods are encouraged by educational researchers.

Demonstrations It has been shown that using Demonstrations in the science classroom helps students retain concepts, energizes the science classroom and is more fun!

color 1.What color is a ripe strawberry? 2.What color is a shadow? 3.What largest curved mirror ever made by man? 4.What is the most “perfect” curved mirror ever made by man? Light & Color Challenge

Rules for Color Production

Radiometer converts light energy into motion (kinetic energy). UV Beads change color in ultraviolet light (sunlight, black light, etc.) What is Light? A Form of Energy? White sides reflect infrared radiation. Black sides get warmer by absorption. Air molecules striking the warmer sides take off faster and push back.

old crooke’s bulb (radiometer) early 1900’s

Electromagnetic Spectrum

Many insects can “see” ultraviolet light. These are pix from NASA comparing visible light with U.V. light on flowers. Peruvian Lily in regular and ultraviolet light

Are Mynah Birds Black? Not if you’re another bird!

Fluorescence Phosphor Glow Paper Tonic Water Violet Laser

Visualize the quantum energy of red, green and violet light! Einstein Would Love This!

Polarization

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Polarized light vibrates in one plane only! Caused by... Reflections from surfaces (Brewster’s Angle) Double refraction Filters Polarization

21 Polarization and 3-d These glasses are used for 3-d movies like “spiderman” & “Shrek 3-d” at universal studios.

What is the minimum size that a Plane mirror must be in order for a person to see their entire body? a.½ your height b.b. ¼ your height c.Your actual height d.1/3 your height e.It depends on your distance from the mirror Plane Mirror Challenge “The Science Teacher”

Just use the Law of Reflection! “The Angle of Incidence = The Angle of Reflection” Law of Reflection

? Whether you are close to the mirror......or a distance away from the mirror... The mirror’s size must be a minimum of ½ your height! Law of Reflection

Reflective Transparent Find Image Location Reflecta-View

Light reflects off “silvered” part Light reflects off “front glass” part “day/night” rear- view mirror During the day... At night... Reflection

Law of Reflection Concave mirrors converge light rays Convex mirrors diverge light rays Optics

Law of Reflection

29 Orbits at 380 miles above Earth ft in length/127 tons/1 inch to spare on each side in shuttle bay. Resolution… From Hancock Tower in Boston to the Washington monument in Wash. DC, Hubble could read “In God We Trust” in a dime!

30 Hubble telescope’s main concave mirror 7.8 ft primary mirror polished for 5 years non-stop.

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32 Quote from NASA after viewing the images produced by their brand- new 1 billion dollar hubble telescope.

The Arecibo radio telescope is currently the largest single-dish “concave mirror” in the world. First opening in 1963, this 305 meter (1000 foot) radio telescope resides in a natural valley of Puerto RicoArecibo radio telescope Puerto Rico “Concave Mirrors” at Arecibo

Law of Reflection Concave Mirrors

The “Mirage” reflects light rays & converges them to form a REAL image! Mirage

Laser Ray Box & Optical Set Concave Mirrors

Inquiry Investigation of Reflection, Refraction & Geometric Optics 1, 3, or 5 Laser Beams Laser Ray Box & Lenses

You can investigate... Snell’s law of refraction Laser Ray Box & Lenses

Distorted images observed in sunsets, water, mirages, lenses and twinkling stars! Refraction results in…

Using concave and convex lenses... Geometric Optics

Total Internal Reflection Concave Mirror Laser Ray Box & Lenses

Laser refraction tanks

Color Spectrum Prisms separate white light into a spectrum by refraction and dispersion!

Color Spectrum

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White Light

White Complementary Colors of light always combine to produce White White Light

Color Addition Primary Color Light Sticks

Color Mixing Demo Students can mix the primary colors of light to form secondary colors and any combination of hues! Color Addition

Why is the Sky Blue?

Sunset on Mars On May 19, 2005, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit captured this stunning view as the Sun sank below the rim of Gusev crater on Mars. This Panoramic Camera mosaic was taken around 6:07 in the evening of the rover's 489th Martian day, or sol.

Actual micrograph of Rods & Cones in your Retina.Rods & Cones

Radiometer converts light energy into motion (kinetic energy) UV Beads change color in ultraviolet light (sunlight, black light, etc.) Radiometer White sides reflect infrared radiation. Black sides get warmer by absorption. Air molecules striking the warmer sides take off faster and push back due to Newton’s 3 rd law!

All persons with “normal” vision should see a “12”.! Your Eyes and Color

Normal vision--> “7” Colorblind  “nothing” Your Eyes and Color

Red/Green colorblind--> “3” Normal vision--> “8” Your Eyes and Color

Though humans can see the entire visible light spectrum and would be able to appreciate the rich greens of the grass in the meadow on the left, prairie dogs and squirrels are red/green color blind, and only perceive the blues, yellows, and grays of the landscape.

DOGS CAN SEE COLOR! It is a myth that dogs see a black and white world. Dogs see in color, but not the same way that we do. Veterinary ophthalmologists have determined that dogs are similar to people with red/green color blindness, so they can see bluish and greenish shades but not reddish ones. To a dog, a bright orange ball on a grassy lawn appears as a light greenish ball in greenish grass. Go fetch!

Sharks have few retinal cones and have no color vision. Also, they have much larger rod receptors (which pick up light), with fewer numbers of them, so their vision is much less acute than ours.

Diffraction...Producing Spectra You can use... Holographic diffraction gratings Quantitative spectrascopes the newest in diffraction... the “RSpec Explorer!”

Color Spectrum

Diffraction Gratings

Use combination red, green & violet lasers to observe the diffraction patterns! Laser Pointers

Diffraction Using a spectroscope to take quantitative measurements of wavelengths!

Using RSpec Explorer to view spectra in a whole new way! Diffraction

Read the following words from the top to bottom out loud together now!

cat dog horse cow pig rabbit mouse whale bird frog

Now Read the colors the words are printed in from the top to bottom out loud together now!

cat dog horse cow pig rabbit mouse whale bird frog

Read the following words from the top to bottom out loud together now!

Red Blue Green Purple Yellow Red Green Blue Orange Red

Now Read the colors the words are printed in from the top to bottom out loud together now!

Red Blue Green Purple Yellow Red Green Blue Orange Red

YOUR RIGHT BRAIN TRIES TO SAY THE COLOR, BUT YOUR LEFT BRAIN INSISTS ON READING THE WORD!

What is CoolStuff?

Don’t forget the CoolStuff! CoolStuff newsletter! It’s full of fun and informative labs, demos, and tools for your classroom! Fill out the CoolStuff Newsletter card for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate!

Buzz Putnam Science Workshops for Teachers & Student groups/assemblies Making Science Phun Again! “The Fizziks Wizard” …in association with Contact info for Demo ideas, PowerPoints, Workshops, etc.

Thank You! (800)

Don’t forget the CoolStuff! Win a $25 gift certificate! Visit Booth #600 to get Rainbow Glasses and lesson plans from Buzz!