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Can you see in the dark?
Lights & Sounds Unit | Lesson 4 of 6

Can you see in the dark?

Lights & Sounds Unit | Lesson 4 of 6
Lesson narration:
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Optional Activity: Dark Box

You may not be able to take a field trip into a deep, dark cave, but you can make a Dark Box that lets students experiment with seeing in dim light and darkness.

Go to the next slide for instructions.

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Optional Activity: Dark Box

A Dark Box is an opaque box with a hole in one end. Students take turns placing a message inside the box and trying to read the message through the opening. How much light do they need to see the message clearly? Students learn that they can see objects only when light shines on them. See Activity Prep below.

Dark Box

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Extensions

Below is an idea for extending this topic beyond the activity & exploration you just completed.
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Distance Learning: Substitute Activity

Instead of making Dark Boxes, you can use this distance-friendly substitute activity.

Make the classroom as dark as possible. From their seats, have students read words and signs around the room. Can they read them all? Can they identify the colors of the words?

Turn on the lights. Ask students to read the words and signs. Which words and signs were the easiest to see in the dark? Which were the hardest? Did they get the colors right?

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Lesson narration:

Grade 1

Light, Sound, & Communication

Light & Illumination

1-PS4-2

Activity Prep

Print Prep

Switch to non-narrated version

In this Read-Along lesson, Santiago visits a cave and discovers that when it's dark (really dark!) he can't see anything. The lesson includes a short exercise where students find the sources of light around them. You can extend the lesson with the optional activity, Dark Box, where students experience what it's like to try to see in the dark.

Preview optional activity
COVID-19 Adaptations
See our advice below

Students at home
With adult supervision, have students observe street signs in their neighborhood at night and again in the daytime.Or, have students do this activity inside with the lights off and then on. Which words and objects are easiest to see in the dark? Which are the hardest to see?
Students at school
Make the classroom as dark as possible. From their seats, have students read words and signs around the room. Can they read them all? Can they identify the colors of the words? Turn on the lights. Ask students to read the words and signs. Which words and signs were the easiest to see in the dark? Which were the hardest? Did they get the colors right?

Grade 1

Light, Sound, & Communication

Light & Illumination

1-PS4-2

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