ERIC Number: EJ1283726
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021
Pages: 6
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0036-8148
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
A Light Challenge: First Graders Engineer an Obstacle Course with Flashlights
Lange, Alissa A.; Rice, Erin; Howe, Noell; Tian, Qiuju
Science and Children, v58 n3 p32-37 Jan-Feb 2021
In this challenge, the authors 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." The aim was 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 in this article were guided by the 5E learning cycle. The students watched a 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.
Descriptors: Grade 1, Elementary School Students, STEM Education, Learning Activities, Lighting, Active Learning
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Early Childhood Education; Elementary Education; Grade 1; Primary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A