Snapshot of Learning by Year 5 Term 4 - Light Investigations

During Term 4 the Year 5 students have been busy investigating different elements of ‘light’. They have been working in groups to carry out investigations that will answer the following questions: 

• What does reflecting, absorbing, refracting mean?
• Can light curve? Which direction does light travel? How far does light travel? What is your evidence?
• How do we determine which materials are opaque, transparent and translucent?
• What is a shadow? How are shadows formed?

Here are some of our findings so far:

Light stops when it touches a surface and it doesn’t go any further. The surface absorbs the light and doesn’t let it through.

Liliana 5 Green

Light will not travel through black things because it gets absorbed by the colour black.

Adam 5 Green

Light travels in straight lines. These lines are called rays. Light can’t go around things. When light hits a mirror it reflects in the direction you point the mirror. 

Isaac L 5 Blue

The dictionary meaning of shadow is the absence of light. This means that shadows are not an object but they are a different version of light. Shadows are made by the light being absorbed by an object. Shadows change size and direction due to where the light is being shone from. For example, if the light is above the object then the shadow will be small and very close to the object. 

Daniela 5 Blue

Light travels in straight lines and can reflect off some objects like mirrors. Some things let light go through and these are called transparent objects. Objects or materials that absorb light are called opaque objects. When it is really dark in a room the pupil in your eyes becomes bigger to let as much light as possible in so that we could see something. When it is really bright then your pupils shrink very small. 

Kai O’S 5 Yellow

Your eyes absorb light to help you see. The pupil in your eyes is a hole that absorbs light. Light travels in straight lines called rays. Mirrors are not the only objects that reflect light. Opaque materials don’t let any light through. They absorb the light. Light can’t go around objects. To make light go around objects you need to use mirrors to make it go around an object.

Olivia 5 Yellow

Light can reflect, shine through things and it can be absorbed. Light travels in straight lines. We call these lines rays. Shadows are formed when an object blocks the light from going through. 

Alissa 5 Red

When light hits a mirror, it will reflect and bounce back. When the sun shines on you, your body blocks the light and that is what makes a shadow. Materials that absorb light are called opaque. Translucent materials let some light pass through. Transparent materials allow light to pass through like a window.

Mason 5 Red