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3rd grade · Science · Unit 6 of 6

Light

Sources, shadows, reflection and refraction

What your child practices

Natural and artificial light, things that make light and things that reflect it, shadows, transparent, translucent and opaque materials, mirrors, refraction, and how light technology affects people and wildlife.

Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards benchmark: 3P.3.1.1.1; 3P.1.1.1.1; 3P.1.2.1.1 · how we see objects when light reflects from them into our eyes, and how materials block or let light through

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Some things make light, like the Sun or a lamp. Others reflect it, like the Moon or a mirror.
  2. Light passes through transparent things, some through translucent ones, and none through opaque ones.
  3. We see things when light from them enters our eyes.

Example: Does the Moon make light or reflect it? The Moon has no light of its own. It shines with sunlight bouncing off it. Answer: reflect

Light in Minnesota

In the Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards, this is unit 6 of 6 in 3rd grade Science, after Sky & Seasons.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Minnesota Department of Education (MDE)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    What is it called when light bends as it goes from one material to another?

    🔍
    • absorption
    • refraction
    • reflection
    • evaporation

  2. Question 2

    Light travels in a straight path. How does this explain why you can't see around a corner?

    🧱
    • light from behind the corner cannot bend to reach you
    • light stops at corners
    • corners make light
    • light turns green

  3. Question 3

    Which of these is an artificial source of light?

    🔦
    • lightning
    • the Sun
    • a flashlight
    • a firefly

  4. Question 4

    Which surface absorbed the most light energy?

    Temperature after 10 minutes in the Sun (°C)
    0510152025303540black paperwhite paperfoil
    • white paper
    • foil
    • black paper

  5. Question 5

    Why can we see the Moon?

    🌙
    • it reflects light from the Sun
    • it makes its own light
    • it is on fire
    • it glows in the dark by itself

  6. Question 6

    You see an object when light from it…

    👁️
    • enters your eyes
    • is absorbed by the floor
    • is turned off
    • leaves your eyes

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