Year 6 completed their unit of learning on light by planning and carrying out an investigation to discover ‘What surfaces make the best reflectors?’. They set up an investigation that had a controlled variable, independent variable and dependent variable. They predicted and carried out the investigation and then evaluated whether it was a fair test. The investigation concluded with silver shiny paper being the most reflective in the investigation. This also matched in with what we had previously found out about the properties of reflective materials being: flat, smooth, shiny and clean. Added to this we recently investigated what refraction is and the science behind it. We initially observed a pencil in a beaker and then gradually added water to observe the change. We discovered that the change is called refraction because water (liquid) is denser than air (gas). As the light slows down when it enters the water it changes direction ( but does not bend). The light carries on in a new straight line. This simple investigation was fascinating to see and to unravel the science behind it.
Y6 Refraction     |