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Science Launch G4 / Week 07 / Wednesday
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Week 07 · How We See

Wednesday

Investigation: The dark box
// Light bounces into our eyes
⏱ about 15 min

Wednesday: The dark box

Raven tapes a shoebox shut and pokes a small peephole in one end. "There is a mystery toy inside," she says.

Rocket presses his eye to the hole. "I see... nothing. Just black."

"Now I will open this little flap on top," Raven says. "What do you notice?"

"A tiny green dinosaur!" Rocket laughs.

Nova scans the box. "Interesting," she says. "The dinosaur was there both times. What was different?"

What you need

  • A shoebox with a lid
  • A small toy
  • Tape
  • A small flashlight with AA batteries
Safety first
A grown-up cuts the peephole and the flap with scissors.
Never shine a flashlight into anyone's eyes.
For a grown-up
Cut a peephole about the size of a pencil in one short end of the box.
Cut a flap about the size of a playing card in the lid.
Put the flap at the far end from the peephole.

Steps

  1. Put the toy inside at the far end of the box. Tape the lid shut.
  2. Keep the flap closed. Look through the peephole. Write what you see.
  3. Open the flap. Look through the peephole again. Write what you see.
  4. Close the flap halfway. Look again.
  5. Shine the flashlight down through the open flap. Look one more time.
MAKE A PREDICTION
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
With the flap closed, what will you see through the peephole?
FlapHow well I could see the toy
Closed
Open
Half open
Open with flashlight
The toy was easiest to see with the flap open and the ____ shining in.
Light reflected off the toy and went into my ____.

What the dark box proved

The toy was inside the box the whole time.

With the flap closed, almost no light could reach it. You saw almost nothing.

With the flap open, light reflected off the toy, through the peephole and into your eye.

DARK BOX THINKING
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
Why did the flashlight make the toy easiest to see?
What did the box prove about seeing?
LEAST LIGHT TO MOST LIGHT
  • ?Flap closed
  • ?Flap half open
  • ?Flap open
  • ?Flap open with flashlight
WHY THIS EXERCISEMore light in the box made the toy easier to see.
With the flap closed, almost no ____ could reach the toy. Type one word.
WHY THIS EXERCISEWithout light, nothing reflects into your eye.
StatementTrue or false?
The toy was in the box the whole time.?
The toy made its own light.?
Opening the flap let light into the box.?
WHY THIS EXERCISEThe toy only reflects light. Opening the flap let light reach it.

You proved that seeing needs light. Tomorrow we study the best reflector of all: a mirror.

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