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Collection of Reviewed Teaching Resources

“Reflection and refraction of light”

Subject taught
- Math
- Physics


Type of Product
- Articles

Language Skills Developed
- Interaction
- Reading
- Speaking

Transferable/Scientific Skills Developed
To observe and to understand why these physic phenomena happen and which laws govern them.

• The general aims are to develop the observation skills and the ability to make connections and suppositions. To be able to be engaged in team work . to acquire and interpret information in a critical way through different contexts and through different communicative instruments.
To estimate the scientific credibility of the source and to discern the difference between facts and opinions.
• The linguistic aims are to teach students a correct scientific language . They will have to read or to watch and to understand a scientific article or video. They will have to use a correct language when they have to explain a scientific topic.
• The specific aims are to stimulate the curiosity of the students in order to explain the two phenomena: the superior and inferior mirage as a consequence of the refraction and reflection of the light in a particular situation.
• The target group age is 16 /18
• The level of competence in English is B1/B2.
• The time required to use the resource with the students is about two hours
• The teacher can use this article as a basis for the lesson about optical phenomena. He can print and distribute this article to the students, so that they can read it during the lesson and it remains as material to study. He must explain, but he especially must lead the students to understand and to recognise that these phenomena are a consequence of the refraction of the light. The teacher can use other videos or pictures or asks students to search on line material about these topics to be analysed in a second lesson. It is important that the students can estimate the scientific reliability of the sources . Often the students recognize that the inferior mirage is not so unusual and remember that they have seen it on the road in summer.
• Normally the students do not have any problem to understand these phenomena.

• Strength: It is not necessary for the students to take notes because this resource is short and the drawings are clear. The pictures are suggestive and the students are stimulated to find other pictures, videos , and so on online. In this way the reflection and refraction are connected to mirages and other optic phenomena and so the students cannot forget these laws. • Weakness: no major weakness if the teacher helps the students to find scientific explanations about these phenomena. • Scientific reliability: good. The sources are all carefully specified. • Pedagogical value: collaborative learning, self–directed learning are used in this lesson. Only a short part is a frontal lesson, but it is necessary to fix the notions and to rearrange the ideas.

Related Video Lessons

Reflection and Refraction