Light and Sound

Unit Overview

In this Unit, students will learn about the properties of light and some common phenomena such as reflection, refraction and total internal reflection of light. Teachers can arrange learning activities for students, such as conducting experiments to verify the laws of refraction and the conditions for the occurrence of total internal reflection, so that students can make scientific reasoning and verify scientific formulas based on the observation results. In addition, this Unit also introduces the structure of the eye and the scientific principles of vision formation, along with discussions on the causes of long sight and short sight, as well as their correction methods, thereby cultivating students' awareness of eye protection. Students will also know that visible light is a part of the electromagnetic spectrum and consists of different colours of light. In addition to visible light, there are other radiation in the electromagnetic spectrum. Teachers can guide students to discuss the application and possible risks of electromagnetic radiation in daily life, and cultivate students’ probabilistic thinking. Students can verify the characteristics of sound and understand the relationship between the vibration frequency and amplitude of note through experiments and daily experiences. Students can also use simulated experiments to analyse the waveforms of note, in which students could learn about data processing skills. Teachers can guide students to investigate the issue of noise pollution, which students could explore the impact of noise from shipping or construction industries on the ecosystem from a scientific perspective, encourage students to propose diverse or original solutions, and enhance public concern for environmental sustainability. Teachers can also design other appropriate learning and teaching activities to enable students to develop and master the following skills: a) using a set of general observations, trend or model to deduce a specific result b) making inference to the best possible explanation to the observed phenomenon c) using scientific formula for scientific inference d) formulating a hypothesis based on observed phenomenon e) identifying independent variables, dependent variables and control variables f) commenting accuracy and precision in a scientific measurement g) constructing and using models to explain phenomena