properties of light

3rd grade Saint Louis School

Objective: Recognize the properties of light, it
travels in straight lines, it reflects and refracts.
 1. Light travels in a straight line
F
• Light can move in different directions, but
only in straight lines in air and water.
 Experiment
With a pocket laser pointer you can check that
the light spreads in a straight line from the
source. Direct the pointer towards
different parts: the wall, the ceiling,
the floor, etc.
Caution: under no circumstances
should you aim at the eyes of a
partner.
2. Light is reflected
• It is called reflection
• property of light to
change its direction of
propagation upon
encountering a
• surface, such as that of
a mirror or glass .
• It allows us to see
the shape and color
of objects.
 Why can we see some
objects?
• Light bounces like a ball when it hits an opaque object. We
see objects thanks to
reflected light.
• Almost all objects reflect
only part of the light .
• Mirrors reflect all light ,
that's why you can see
yourself in them.
 EXPERIENCE
Take a mirror and look at your image. Go to a dark
place and try to repeat the action.
Why can we see ourselves in a mirror when there
is light?
• the light that reaches our face goes to the mirror and from it to our
eyes.

_ Challenge
your mind
Why can we rar our
image in a pool of 3MAC
water?
 3. Light refraction
It is the change in direction of
light when passing from a
transparent medium to
another transparent medium,
for example: it goes through
the air and enters the water
changing direction, as if it
were breaking.
 EXPERIENCE
If we introduce a spoon
In a glass we can see how
the image we see does not
correspond to that of the
spoon, it seems crooked. An
optical illusion has occurred
as a result of light refraction.
 4. Light travels at the
maximum speed
The highest speed that
can be found in the
Universe is 300,000 km
per second.
 Activity 1:
• Answer true (T) or false (F).
• ___Light moves in a straight line.
• ___Light travels at 3000 km per second.
• ___Light always moves in the same direction.
• ___Light changes direction when passing from
water to air.
Properties of light
Look at the images and indicate which property of light
they are referring to.