hET Tips for Teachers
Bending Light
Authors: Loeblein.
Podolefsky
last updated
August
2011
Tips for
controls:
T
he tools and features are very easy to
use
according to our interviews.
Tools and objects can be dragged out of the “tool box” and then returned.
The objects in the
Prism Break
tab can be rotated by dragging the handle
In the
Prism Break
tab
, the protractor rotate
s
and the laser translate
s
.
All the tools work in both
Ray
and
Wave
mode, but some
are easier to use in
W
ave
mode because the region whe
re the tool can
read
is larger.
Try all the different tabs at the top of the simulation. The tabs are designed to help
teachers scaffold lessons or make lessons age appropriate by using only some tabs.
In the Intro and More Tools tabs,
the waves speed may make understanding difficult:
y
ou
can
Pause
the sim and then use
Step
to incrementally analyze.
Also,
the sim speed tool
allows the time increment of the simulation to be
decreased, but the speed tool still functions to provide a
ppropriate measurements.
Important modeling notes / simplifications:
Snell’s Law was used to determine angles and wavelengths.
Intensities are calculated assuming a parallel polarized incident beam
:
o
Reflected:
o
Transmitted:
There are many types of Glass; we used an index of 1.50.
Insights into student use / thinking:
S
tudents explored lots of features
. They
may need guidance to relate
the bending of lig
ht to the
indices of refraction
and also how light wavelength effects index.
Suggestions for sim use:
For tips on using PhET sims with your students see
:
Guidelines for Inquiry
Contributions
and
Using PhET Sims
The simulations have been used successfully
with homework, lectures, in
-
class activities,
or lab activities.
Use them for
introduction to concepts, learning new concept
s,
reinforcement of concepts,
as visual aids for interactive demonstrations,
or with in
-
class
clicker questions.
To read more, see
Teaching Physics using Ph
ET Simulations
For activities and lesson plans written by the PhET team and other teachers, see:
Teacher
Ideas & Activities