A Light Challenge: First Graders Engineer an Obstacle Course with Flashlights

Alissa A. Lange; Erin Rice; Noell Howe; Qiuju Tian; Christina N. Howe

A Light Challenge: First Graders Engineer an Obstacle Course with Flashlights

Alissa A. Lange, Erin Rice, Noell Howe, Qiuju Tian, Christina N. Howe

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

In this class, we wanted to support students’ knowledge of light and the ways in which it interacts with other materials through a series of connected learning experiences. These experiences are related to NGSS standard 1-PS4-3 Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer. Plan and conduct investigations to determine the effect of placing objects made with different materials in the path of a beam of light . We aimed for children to discover that light tends to move in a straight line unless something gets in the way, materials can affect the beam of light, and the way light moves can be impacted by moving the objects.

The connected activities described here were guided by the 5E learning cycle. The students watched the video to spark their curiosity about the path in which something might travel, worked in teams to design and test ideas while exploring the properties of the light, and documented and communicated their observations.

Original language	American English
Journal	Science and Children
Volume	58
State	Published - Jan 1 2021

Keywords

early childhood education
student activities
light
flashlight activity

Disciplines

Early Childhood Education

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A Light Challenge First Graders Engineer an Obstacle Course withFinal published version, 420 KBLicense: CC BY
A Light Challenge First Graders Engineer an Obstacle Course withFinal published version, 420 KBLicense: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "A Light Challenge: First Graders Engineer an Obstacle Course with Flashlights",

abstract = " In this class, we wanted to support students{\textquoteright} knowledge of light and the ways in which it interacts with other materials through a series of connected learning experiences. These experiences are related to NGSS standard 1-PS4-3 Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer. Plan and conduct investigations to determine the effect of placing objects made with different materials in the path of a beam of light . We aimed for children to discover that light tends to move in a straight line unless something gets in the way, materials can affect the beam of light, and the way light moves can be impacted by moving the objects. The connected activities described here were guided by the 5E learning cycle. The students watched the video to spark their curiosity about the path in which something might travel, worked in teams to design and test ideas while exploring the properties of the light, and documented and communicated their observations.",

keywords = "early childhood education, student activities, light, flashlight activity",

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T1 - A Light Challenge: First Graders Engineer an Obstacle Course with Flashlights

AU - Lange, Alissa A.

AU - Rice, Erin

AU - Howe, Noell

AU - Tian, Qiuju

AU - Howe, Christina N.

PY - 2021/1/1

Y1 - 2021/1/1

N2 - In this class, we wanted to support students’ knowledge of light and the ways in which it interacts with other materials through a series of connected learning experiences. These experiences are related to NGSS standard 1-PS4-3 Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer. Plan and conduct investigations to determine the effect of placing objects made with different materials in the path of a beam of light . We aimed for children to discover that light tends to move in a straight line unless something gets in the way, materials can affect the beam of light, and the way light moves can be impacted by moving the objects. The connected activities described here were guided by the 5E learning cycle. The students watched the video to spark their curiosity about the path in which something might travel, worked in teams to design and test ideas while exploring the properties of the light, and documented and communicated their observations.

AB - In this class, we wanted to support students’ knowledge of light and the ways in which it interacts with other materials through a series of connected learning experiences. These experiences are related to NGSS standard 1-PS4-3 Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer. Plan and conduct investigations to determine the effect of placing objects made with different materials in the path of a beam of light . We aimed for children to discover that light tends to move in a straight line unless something gets in the way, materials can affect the beam of light, and the way light moves can be impacted by moving the objects. The connected activities described here were guided by the 5E learning cycle. The students watched the video to spark their curiosity about the path in which something might travel, worked in teams to design and test ideas while exploring the properties of the light, and documented and communicated their observations.

KW - early childhood education

KW - student activities

KW - light

KW - flashlight activity

UR - https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/19287

M3 - Article

VL - 58

JO - Science and Children

JF - Science and Children

ER -

A Light Challenge: First Graders Engineer an Obstacle Course with Flashlights

Abstract

Keywords

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