Describes how to teach the light spectrum to students using hands-on activities in a physical science class at the middle school level. Explains how to build a spectroscope and lists required materials. Provides an internet address for sciLinks. (YDS)

A survey completed by 1237 adults with severe visual impairments found that 20% described the quality of their sleep as poor or very poor. Exercise was associated with better sleep and depression with poorer sleep. However, visual acuity did not predict sleep quality, casting doubt on the idea that restricted visual input (light) causes sleep…

Describes a series of simple and nontraditional experiments that enable students to discover the properties of infrared radiation by studying the propagation, reflection, diffusion, and refraction of infrared. The experiments rely on two modules, an infrared transmitter and an infrared receiver. (SAH)

Describes a method to combine two learning experiences--optical physics and matrix mathematics--in a straightforward laboratory experiment that allows engineering/physics students to integrate a variety of learning insights and technical skills, including using lasers, studying refraction through thin lenses, applying concepts of matrix…

Explains the use of a Sun Tower in different activities at elementary grade levels while addressing national and state science standards. Shows the movement and motion of the sun in the sky. Introduces an activity that includes the sun tower in which students observe the changes of shadows every half hour. (YDS)

In addition to their restricted peripheral fields, persons with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) report significant problems seeing in low levels of illumination, which causes difficulty with night travel. Several devices have been developed to support the visual needs of persons who have night blindness. These devices include wide-angle flashlights,…

The main goals of these activities are to help students learn how a convex lens can serve as a magnifying lens and how light travels and creates images. These explorations will introduce middle school students to different types of lenses and how they work. Students will observe and describe how lenses bend light that passes through them and how…

Perceptual grouping by luminance similarity and by proximity was investigated in infants with Williams syndrome (WS) aged between 6 and 36 months (visit 1, N=29). WS infants who were still under 36 months old, 8 months later, repeated the testing procedure (visit 2, N=15). Performance was compared to typically developing (TD) infants aged from 2…

In his "The Making of the Atomic Bomb," Richard Rhodes remarks of the July 16, 1945, Trinity atomic bomb test in New Mexico that "had astronomers been watching they could have seen it reflected from the moon, literal moonshine," an allusion to Ernest Rutherford's famous dismissal of the prospect of atomic energy. Investigating…

Three pigeons discriminated between two sample stimuli (intensities of red light). The difficulty of the discrimination was varied over four levels. At each level, the relative reinforcer magnitude for the two correct responses was varied across conditions, and the reinforcer rates were equal. Within levels, discriminability between the sample…

Presents several topics in color photography which can serve as an introduction of scientific concepts into the classroom, such as: photochemistry (energy transport), organic chemistry (dye formation), physics (nature of light), psychology (color perception), and engineering (isolation of different chemical processes within layers of the film).…

Provides information on how humans see color including sensitivity of the eye, spatial effects, and temporal effects, and relative to the characteristics of the human eye explains how color is measured. (GS)

Deals with the subject of laser hazards, laser hazards control, and laser safety practices in the laboratory. Describes four categories of hazards: radiative, electrical, explosive, and toxic, and explains the status of federal regulations that seek to define lazer hazards and control safety standards. (Author/GS)