This is an Exploratorium teacher professional development course taught by Teacher Institute staff, open to any science teacher (particularly middle or high school level) and science enthusiast. This is a hands-on workshop that explores topics and strategies teachers can use to help their students become active investigators of light. Watch a preview video (copy and paste this link into your browser): https://youtu.be/fPvT_quBVIw There are four weeks of course content, which require 2-4 hours per week. Each module builds upon the previous one, so we strongly suggest you follow the sequence we've outlined rather than skip ahead or do the course in less time. The course is designed to give you an opportunity to learn and share with others, not test what you know. There are weekly activity and reflection assignments, but these will not be graded. To receive credit for this course, you will need to complete the peer-reviewed final assignment. As a participant, you will: - Watch videos that demonstrate natural phenomena and the Exploratorium's approach to teaching and learning - Conduct personal investigations by engaging in hands-on activities based in those phenomena - Reflect and share your experience doing activities - Discuss and identify challenges and opportunities for teaching - Devise a lesson of your own based on one or more of the activities Each week, we'll look at a different light-related topic: We will start by examining human visual perception, then take a brief historical tour of our evolving scientific understanding. We’ll also look at optics and optical instruments and finish by looking at the wave nature of light. To get the most out of this experience, you'll have to try out some activities! In return, you'll get lots of valuable teaching resources, an in-depth understanding of the subject matter, and useful tips and techniques for the classroom. NOTE: This is a hands-on workshop, so you will need to buy or find materials. All of the materials required are inexpensive and should be easy to obtain, and we welcome substitutions! A separate list of materials is available for each activity.
Test Your Peripheral Vision
Reviews
JQ
Aug 23, 2017
Interesting course. I've learned so much! And surprisingly, a whole lot that I thought I knew I really didn't. Thanks so much!
VS
Jul 01, 2017
I TELL YOU THIS COURSE IS SO GOD THAT IT WAS THE BEST THING WHEN I THOUGHT TO DO THIS COURSE.
We don't just see with our eyes; our brain plays a big role in determining what we see. A huge percentage of the human brain is devoted to processing visual information, but we still can't make sense of everything going on around us, so we rely on certain "shortcuts" or tricks. In other words, your brain makes things up!<br/><br/>This week, we're going to explore a few interesting visual shortcuts and some of the technologies that have been invented to take advantage of them.<br/><br/>Your assignment is to watch the videos below, try some activities at home, and share your experience in the discussion forums.<ul><li>Collect data about your <a href="http://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/peripheral-vision">peripheral vision</a> and compare with your classmates</li><li>Show off your afterimage designs for <a href="http://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/bird-in-cage">Bird in a Cage</a></li><li>Take pictures of your experiments with <a href="http://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/bird-in-cage">Colored Shadows</a></li></ul>We can't wait to see what you come up with!
Taught By
Zeke Kossover
Teacher in Residence
Paul Doherty, PhD
Senior Staff Scientist
Eric Muller
Senior Science Educator
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