Presents three absorption line sources that enhance student understanding of the phenomena associated with the interaction of light with matter and help dispel the misconception that atoms "emit" absorption lines. Sources include neodymium, food coloring and other common household liquids, and fluorescent materials. (MDH)

Introduces a new sign convention for the object and image distances involving mirrors and lenses. Proposes that the method is easier for students to understand and remember and that it helps clarify the physics concepts involved. (MDH)

Presents a qualitative activity whereby students observe the effects of temperature on commercial lightsticks. Includes Internet resources. (WRM)

Presents scientific explanations of primary colors and color mixing, black and white surfaces, the spectrum and the ability of the eye to distinguish color difference, the description of color, and the appearance and optical properties of metals. Contains 16 references. (Author)

Discusses school design considerations for energy-efficient schools that provide learning environments that lead to improved student performance. Design myths are addressed as are use of daylighting and designing schools that can teach students and adults about the importance of conserving energy and money. Two online resources are included. (GR)

Describes the construction and use of a set of "relativistic metersticks" that represent the apparent lengths of a meterstick passing a stationary observer at relative speed v/c. (WRM)

Describes an experiment in which two semi-transparent reticles and a photographic plate separated by several centimeters are illuminated by a monochromatic point source in a typical in-line configuration that results in a hologram that contains information from both reticles. (Author/WRM)

Describes a procedure based on the assumption that during the rated lifetime of a light bulb roughly half of the radius of the filament evaporates. Explains how the filament's operating temperature can be deduced. (DDR)

Introduces a bubble activity to teach about the nature of molecules, surface tension, light waves, and color. Explains how to make the bubble solution and includes a lab worksheet with answers to the questions. (YDS)

Contends that children's playfulness with flashlights is an artform suitable to the art classroom. For example, flashlights can become drawing tools or a means of sculpting with forms and light. Discusses works by "flashlight artists" and considers flashlight art history in the classroom. (CMK)

Discusses whether students can learn science from carefully designed online peer discussions. Contrasts two formats of contributed comments--historical debate and narrative text--and assesses the impact of an asynchronous discussion on student understanding of the nature of light. Reports that students gain integrated understanding of the nature…

Presents an activity in which the amount of solar ultraviolet radiation in tree shade is measured at different times of the day and compared with changes in illumination levels and temperature. (Author/WRM)

Recent experiments suggest that the effects of drugs of abuse on the discrimination of the passage of time may differ for experimenter-imposed and subject-produced events. The current experiment examined this suggestion by determining the effects of morphine on the discrimination of interresponse times (IRTs). Pigeons pecked a center key on a…

This article describes the light-based science circus the authors developed and tested with a fifth-grade class at Blackwell Elementary School in Richmond, Virginia. A science circus is a set of activities done in any order that together illustrate complementary properties of a science topic. As in a traditional circus, several "performances"…

On any night, the stars seen in the sky can be as close to Earth as a few light-years or as distant as a few thousand light-years. Distances this large are hard to comprehend. The stars are so far away that the fastest spacecraft would take tens of thousands of years to reach even the nearest one. Yet, astronomers have been able to accurately…