Lesson Planning

Teaching

• Learn that light bouncing off a mirror gives a clear reflection.
• Discover that a reflection is a back-to-front image.

Activities

1. Investigate how light reflects off mirrors and other shiny surfaces to give a clear reflection (Yr3).
2. Investigate how writing is reflected back to front and how back to front writing looks normal when viewed through a mirror (Yr4).
3. Experiment with angles of reflection using strings attached to a mirror (Yr3&4).

Investigation - pattern seeking, problem solving
Later there was total darkness again and the witnesses saw a torch beam for a few seconds. Some said it was shining towards the back of the stage and others in their eyes. Some people saw a piece of paper with a strange message. Discover the torch was shining into the mirror.
Year 3 - Investigate mirrors and reflections. Explain the different witness statements
Year 4 - Investigate mirror writing. Decode the strange message. Explain why only some people saw it

Vocabulary
Reflect, mirror, reflection, image, angle, line of reflection, concave, convex, symmetrical