Year 7 - Science
Reflections in mirrors
Sound, light and vision
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
This unit explores sound and light waves, including frequencies, echoes, reflection, absorption, and the need for a medium for sound to travel. It also compares light and matter waves, investigates light transmission and colour, and examines wave properties and effects.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to explain why reflections (images) are seen in mirrors and describe the properties of mirror images.
Key Notes
- Light reflects from mirrors obeying the laws of reflection. Some reflects into our eyes causing an image to be seen.
- The image in a mirror is located where the light rays seem to have come from.
- A reflection appears to be directly opposite the object, the same distance behind the mirror as the object is in front.
- The image in a mirror is the right way up but is laterally inverted.
Vocabulary To Learn
- reflection: this word has two meanings: 1. the process of light 'bouncing off' a surface, 2. an image seen in a mirror
- image: a representation of an object
- laterally inverted: describes an image that has been 'flipped' horizontally (as occurs in mirror images)
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Ideas about the nature of light and reflections are often taken for granted at this stage and simple misconceptions often persist, e.g. that all reflections appear to be on the surface of mirrors.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain the scientific idea in this lesson using two key points.
Light reflects from mirrors obeying the laws of reflection. Some reflects into our eyes causing an image to be seen. The image in a mirror is located where the light rays seem to have come from.
2. Define this scientific word and use it in context. 'reflection'
this word has two meanings: 1. the process of light 'bouncing off' a surface, 2. an image seen in a mirror. Include the word in a full scientific explanation, not as a single label.
3. Correct this common scientific misunderstanding.
Mistake: Ideas about the nature of light and reflections are often taken for granted at this stage and simple misconceptions often persist, e.g. that all reflections appear to be on the surface of mirrors. Correction: Give pupils practical experience of systematically investigating reflections, e.g. measuring the apparent location of a mirror image. Explicitly assess for misconceptions about the location and visibility of mirror images of an object.
More Lessons In This Unit
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