Year 7 - Science
Shadows
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 describe what happens when light travels and how shadows can form.
Key Notes
- Transparent objects transmit light (let light travel through them). Opaque objects do not transmit light through them.
- Light travels in straight lines at an extremely high speed, spreading out as it travels.
- Light rays are straight arrows added to diagrams to show the direction that some light is travelling.
- A shadow is an unlit area in the shape of an object that is blocking light.
Vocabulary To Learn
- transparent: describes materials that you can clearly see through because they let light pass through them
- transmit: if light passes through a material, we say that material transmits light
- opaque: describes materials you can't see through at all, as these materials do not let any light pass through them
- light ray: an arrow added to a diagram to show the direction that some light is travelling
- shadow: an unlit area in the shape of an object that is blocking light
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Pupils sometimes think light is made up from light rays (small thing 'pieces' of light). Pupils may also think shadows are objects, reflections or that shadows are always black.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain the scientific idea in this lesson using two key points.
Transparent objects transmit light (let light travel through them). Opaque objects do not transmit light through them. Light travels in straight lines at an extremely high speed, spreading out as it travels.
2. Define this scientific word and use it in context. 'transparent'
describes materials that you can clearly see through because they let light pass through them. Include the word in a full scientific explanation, not as a single label.
3. Correct this common scientific misunderstanding.
Mistake: Pupils sometimes think light is made up from light rays (small thing 'pieces' of light). Pupils may also think shadows are objects, reflections or that shadows are always black. Correction: Light rays are just arrows showing the direction some light travels, like arrows on a map showing a route. Leave what light is (oscillating electric & magnetic fields) to KS4. Shadows are unlit areas that look dark compared to lit surroundings.
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