Total Time: 30 - 45 minutes
Audience: Middle School Science Teachers
Education Level: Grades 5 - 9
Content Area: Waves
Educational Topic: Waves, features of waves, wave terminology
Objectives: Students will use ChromaDepth glasses which bend light of different wavelengths by different amounts. Students will experiment by looking at different objects with the glasses on, create ChromaDepth art, and brainstorm possible applications of ChromaDepth technology.
Key Question: What is wave diffraction? Wave refraction? Name examples of wave diffraction and refraction you see in real life. How can ChromaDepth possibly play into new technologies?
MS-PS4-2. Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials.
CCC: Influence of Science, Engineering, and Technology on Society and the Natural World ▪ Technologies extend the measurement, exploration, modeling, and computational capacity of scientific investigations. (MS-PS4-3)
CCC: Science is a Human Endeavor ▪ Advances in technology influence the progress of science and science has influenced advances in technology. (MS-PS4-3)
SEPs: Scientific knowledge is based on empirical evidence ▪ Scientific knowledge is based upon logical and conceptual connections between evidence and explanations. (MS-PS4-1)
Overview: Students start by exploring different light sources using ChromaDepth glasses. Encourage students to look at different colorful fabrics, objects, posters on your walls, or Google “Chromadepth art” and look at various pictures online that give a good 3D effect. Then, they can create “ChromaDepth art” — drawing with brightly-colored gel pens or paint markers on black paper. Finally, encourage students to think about real-life scenarios where ChromaDepth technology could be used.
Watch this video from Little Shop of Physics for an overview of the experimental setup and the science behind the phenomenon!
The lenses of ChromaDepth glasses contain a very fine series of slits. Light passing through these slits will get spread out. In formal physics jargon, the lenses act as diffraction gratings: they diffract (spread out) light that passes through them. It’s worth noting that the grating in ChromaDepth glasses has a unique structure — the fine structure in these lenses is a bit different than a normal diffraction grating. The angle of diffraction depends on the wavelength (color) of the light.
The overall effect we are interested in is that the glasses diffract (bend) different wavelengths (colors) of light to different angles. The glasses bend red light to a greater angle than blue light (in-between colors, like green, are bent to in-between angles). Most people’s brains will interpret this difference in angles to mean that red areas are “floating” above a surface, and that blue areas are “sinking” into it.
Optical devices (like lenses, mirrors, prisms, diffraction gratings, etc.) use reflection, refraction, or diffraction to move light around. The optics found in ChromaDepth 3D glasses, combine refraction and diffraction to make thin optics that act like thick glass prisms; it’s like having a super compact version of a glass prism!
Students will use ChromaDepth glasses which bend light of different wavelengths by different amounts. Students will experiment by looking at different objects with the glasses on, create ChromaDepth art, and brainstorm possible applications of ChromaDepth technology.*
*It is important to understand that student goals may be different and unique from the lesson goals. We recommend leaving room for students to set their own goals for each activity.
Teacher notes: Ask the students to wear brightly colored clothing for the day of the experiment.
Watch this video from Little Shop of Physics for an overview of the experimental setup and the science behind the phenomenon!
Ask any or all of the following set-up questions: Have you ever stuck your arm in a swimming pool and noticed how it appears “broken” at the boundary between the water and the air above? Maybe you’ve seen something similar with a drinking straw sitting in a glass of water. Why do you think that happens? How about the rainbow effect you can see when looking at the back of a CD or DVD disc? What causes those rainbow colors to appear?
Now that we know a bit about waves, we’re going to focus on light waves in particular. Optical devices like lenses, mirrors, and fiber optic cables use reflection, refraction, or diffraction to move light around. You’re probably already familiar with reflection — it’s the bouncing of light off a surface. The optics found in the ChromaDepth glasses you’ll explore with today combine refraction and diffraction to bend light and create a 3D effect. You’ll get to explore this 3D effect, create 3D art, and come up with possible applications of using ChromaDepth technology elsewhere.
Objective: Students will use ChromaDepth glasses which bend light of different wavelengths by different amounts. Students will experiment by looking at different objects with the glasses on, create ChromaDepth art, and brainstorm possible applications of ChromaDepth technology.
Students: After reading the introduction, what is your essential question or objective for this activity?
:
**Real-world situations/connections can be used as is, or changed to better fit a student’s own community and cultural context.
Created by Cherie Bornhorst, MEd, and Little Shop of Physics along with Nicole Schrode, MEd, and Claudia Fracchiolla, PhD, of APS Public Engagement
Reviewed by Summer Chrisman, MEd, Tamia Williams, MSt, Chris Irwin
Extensions by Jenna Tempkin
Formatted by Sierra Crandell, MEd, partially funded by Eucalyptus Foundation PhysicsQuest © 2023 by American Physical Society is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0