Lesson Plan: Light Intensity Science
This lesson plan includes the objectives, prerequisites, and exclusions of the lesson teaching students how to describe how the energy of light from a point changes with the distance from the point.
Objectives
Students will be able to
- recognize that light intensity is the measure of the brightness of light on a surface,
- recall that light intensity is the energy transmitted through a unit area per second,
- recognize that light intensity at a point decreases as the distance between the point and the source increases,
- recognize that light intensity at a point is inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the point and the source—the inverse square law.
Prerequisites
Students should already be familiar with
- the idea that light is an energy category associated with the transfer of energy between objects,
- the fact that light from a point source radiates uniformly in all directions.
Exclusions
Students will not cover
- absolute intensity calculations,
- laser light.