Virginia SOL 5.6.a
The Standard
visible light is radiant energy that moves in transverse waves
Virginia Standards of Learning for Science
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students identify visible light as energy that travels away from a source. They use a wave model to show vibrations perpendicular to the direction the energy travels.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can label the travel direction and vibration direction on a light wave model. The student can explain that light transfers energy rather than matter.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think the wave carries matter up and down. They may draw vibrations parallel to the travel direction or assume all radiant energy is visible.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: A flashlight beam travels to the right. Draw the vibration direction for its wave model and write what the beam carries.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Stretch a rope across the room, shake it side to side, and label the vibration direction and energy travel direction with tape arrows.
Ask students to write: How can light move forward while its wave vibrations move across that direction?
Give pairs wave diagrams to sort as transverse or not transverse, then have them correct one incorrectly labeled diagram.
Cover and uncover a solar calculator's light cell, then explain how visible light transfers energy from the source to the calculator.
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Printable 5.6.a Worksheet
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