Recreate Discoveries About Light
Recreate Discoveries About Light
Light Inventions
People have been using light to make and invent things for a very long time. A prehistoric monument, called Stonehenge (right), was built to line up with the sunrise at particular times of year, working as an early version of a calendar. Mirrors, shadow clocks, and lamps have existed since ancient times. Some of the most important inventions in history have made use of light, including the light bulb, cameras, microscopes, telescopes, fiber optics, and solar power.
Recreate Discoveries About Light is part of the “Recreate Scientific Discoveries” series. Like other books in this series, Recreate Discoveries About Light is filled with easy to follow step-by-step directions for projects based on a scientific theme. In this case, the projects are about light.
The instructions are clear and well-illustrated. The list of “What You Need” for each project requires items commonly found in your home. Some activities do recommend adult assistance or supervision.
Recreate Discoveries About Light is organized into 10 projects of increasing complexity in different areas on the topic of light, such as shadows, reflections, lenses, photography, and electric lighting.
For example, students will create a simple magnifier based on the work of Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723), and also learn about van Leeuwenhoek’s work.
Dutch shopkeeper and scientist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek sold cloth and used magnifying glasses to inspect fabrics. By heating and melting glass, he managed to make tiny glass spheres that worked as very powerful magnifiers. He mounted each sphere in a metal plate, making the first microscopes. He soon realized there was a lot more to look at close up than just cloth. In fact, his invention led him to discover microbes – tiny living things such as bacteria. He called them animalcules.
The Recreate Scientific Discoveries” series by Crabtree Publishing is excellent at briefly summarizing the scientific theory behind inventions and giving students a hands-on activity to apply the knowledge.
The series follows the standard non-fiction format, including a table of contents, glossary, index, and a short list of books and websites with further information on the topics.
Students will find lots to do and learn in Recreate Discoveries About Light. The historic information combined with the simple projects will encourage young readers to think more deeply about each of the topics while applying the learning through a simple hands-on activity.
This book is sure to be popular with multimodal learners.
Dr. Suzanne Pierson instructs Librarianship courses at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario.