Bending Pencil Experiment

Place the pencil in the cup without water.

the cup with water.
Look at the cup at eye level.
Draw what you see.

Place the pencil in

Look at the cup at eye level.
Draw what you see.

What is the difference between the two drawings?

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Why did this happen?
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Now, slowly begin to stir the pencil around in the cup. When looking at the cup at
eye level, what do you see?
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S.Moorman
(Teaching
http://teachinginroom6.blogspot.com

in

Room

6),

2012

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Draw your observations of three different things you see in the cup while you stir.

Turning Arrow Experiment

Take a flashcard, there is an arrow drawn on
both sides of the card.
Place the card behind a clear cup filled with
water. What do you observe?
Draw a before and after picture detailing what you observed.
Before (not behind cup)

After (behind the cup)

Other experiments to conduct:

Try placing them very close to the cup.
S.Moorman
(Teaching
http://teachinginroom6.blogspot.com

in

Room

6),

2012

Try placing them very far away from the cup.

Note some of your observations:
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Magnification Experiments
Using the newspaper clipping, draw your observations and you look at it through:
Your naked eye
Glass bead

Magnifying Glass

Drop of water on plastic

What did you observe as you looked through each object?

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S.Moorman
(Teaching
http://teachinginroom6.blogspot.com

in

Room

6),

2012

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Why did this happen?

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Rising Coin Experiment

Do the following steps at your station:
1.Put the coin in the bowl.
2.Walk backwards until you cannot see the coin in the bowl any more.
3.Have someone pour water slowly into the bowl.
4.Watch the bowl from where you are standing.
S.Moorman
(Teaching
http://teachinginroom6.blogspot.com

in

Room

6),

2012

What did you observe? Draw what happened as the water began to fill the bowl.

Why did this happen?

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Listed below is the REASON that each experiment works. It is the

scientific rationale if you will.
Rising Coin
We see that when the bowl is empty, the edge of the bowl stops you seeing the coin. When the bowl is
full, the light bends over the edge, so you can see the coin. We notice that things at the bottom of a pool
or river always look closer to the surface than they really are. This is because of the way light is bent
through water and is an effect of refracted light.
S.Moorman
(Teaching
http://teachinginroom6.blogspot.com

in

Room

6),

2012

Bending Pencil
Straight or bent? What happens when you look at the pencil through the side of the glass? Light play
tricks on your eyes. The pencil looks bent. This is because light travels slower through water than through
air. As the light enters the glass of water it slows down(changes direction) and as it leaves the glass it
speeds up again therefore making the pencil look bent!

Magnification Experiment
When light moves through different mediums, it changes shape. When you look at the newspaper through
the glass or water, the light had to pass from air through the new medium. Looking from above, an object
under this new medium appears larger than it does in air. It's not that the image the light gave our eyes is
bigger. It's that the image is actually closer to our eyes, since the light is not passing straight down, but is
instead bending relative to the water's surface. Light passing straight down would be perpendicular to the
water's surface, like the vertical line on the letter T. A closer image looks bigger--the underwater or
under-glass object is magnified.

Turning Arrow
Just as with the pencil bending, the light is playing tricks on your eyes. The arrow looks as though it has
turned because the light is passing twice through the different mediums (air to glass back to air back to
glass to air to your eye). This is because light travels slower through water than through air. As the light
enters the glass of water it slows down(changes direction) and as it leaves the glass it speeds up again
therefore making the arrow look as though it has turned.

S.Moorman
(Teaching
http://teachinginroom6.blogspot.com

in

Room

6),

2012