Exhibitor:
Location: FPAT / Second Floor Room 259I
About the Exhibit
Exhibit Description:
This exhibit invites students to explore the fascinating science of light and its applications in the modern world. Through a series of hands-on demonstrations and activities, participants will learn fundamental principles of optics and photonics, such as how light bends, reflects, and splits into colors. The exhibit aims to inspire students to pursue STEM fields by showing how optics plays a crucial role in cutting-edge technologies like lasers, medical imaging, and virtual reality. Students will leave with a deeper understanding of how light shapes our world and an appreciation for the exciting opportunities in optics and photonics careers.
Ideas for Demonstrations and Activities
Laser Maze Challenge
Description: Create a "laser maze" where students use small mirrors to direct a laser beam through an obstacle course to hit a target.
What They Learn: Reflection and the Law of Angles—how light bounces off surfaces.
Engagement: Students can experiment with positioning mirrors and see immediate results, making it fun and interactive.
Rainbow Maker
Description: Use a prism to split white light into its component colors, creating a rainbow.
What They Learn: Refraction and dispersion of light—how light bends and separates into colors when passing through materials.
Engagement: Students can adjust the prism’s angle and use flashlights to experiment with creating rainbows themselves.
Bending Light with Lenses
Description: Let students explore convex and concave lenses by focusing light to form an image or magnify objects.
What They Learn: Refraction and lens optics—how lenses are used in magnifying glasses, microscopes, and cameras.
Engagement: Provide everyday examples, like eyeglasses or phone cameras, to make the lesson relatable.
Diffraction Grating Fun
Description: Give students diffraction glasses or grating sheets to view light sources and see how light splits into spectra.
What They Learn: Diffraction and interference—how light behaves like a wave and can create colorful patterns.
Engagement: Challenge them to identify different light sources (e.g., LED vs. incandescent) based on the spectra.
Fiber Optics in Action
Description: Demonstrate how light travels through fiber optic cables using lasers or LED light sources.
What They Learn: Total internal reflection and how fiber optics are used for high-speed communication.
Engagement: Highlight real-world uses like internet connectivity and medical imaging.
Hologram Illusions
Description: Use simple hologram projectors (e.g., made with transparent plastic or glass) to create 3D floating images.
What They Learn: Principles of light interference and how holograms work.
Engagement: Show examples of holograms used in entertainment or security (e.g., credit cards).
Color Mixing with Light
Description: Set up RGB LED lights and allow students to mix the three primary colors of light to create secondary colors.
What They Learn: Additive color mixing—how different combinations of light produce new colors.
Engagement: Students can predict and test which colors will appear when lights overlap.
Camera Obscura Box
Description: Build a simple camera obscura (pinhole camera) to show how light forms an image.
What They Learn: Image formation and how cameras work.
Engagement: Students can place objects in front of the box and observe the inverted image.
Optical Illusions and Fun Mirrors
Description: Use curved mirrors (concave and convex) to create distorted reflections and optical illusions.
What They Learn: Light reflection and how curved surfaces affect image formation.
Engagement: Students can take selfies and explore funhouse-style effects.
Build Your Own Spectroscope
Description: Provide simple materials (CD/DVD pieces, cardboard tubes, etc.) for students to construct their own spectroscopes to view light spectra.
What They Learn: Spectroscopy and how scientists analyze light to identify materials.
Engagement: Encourage them to use their spectroscopes to analyze light from different sources (e.g., sunlight vs. fluorescent lights).