Waves*

Focus Questions

• How does light travel from one place to another? 
• What characteristics are used to tell one wave from another?
• When do we see waves in everyday life, and how are they useful?
• How is a wave affected by different materials as it travels?

Enduring Understanding

• Electromagnetic waves are one way for energy to travel.
• The higher the frequency of the wave, the more energy it has.
• Wave behavior can be described in terms of the speed of the wave and its wavelength.
• There are a great variety of electromagnetic waves. These wavelengths vary from radio waves (the longest) to gamma rays (the shortest).
• Light behaves like a wave in many ways. Light and other electromagnetic waves can warm objects.
• Something can be "seen" when light waves emitted or reflected by it enter the eye.
• Human eyes respond to only a narrow range of wavelengths on the electromagnetic spectrum. Differences of wavelengths in that range are perceived as different colors.
• Vibrations in materials set up wavelike disturbance that spread away from the source. Waves move at different speeds in different materials.

 

Key Vocabulary

wave
frequency
amplitude
interference

polarization
reflection
refraction
resonance

concave
convex
electromagnetic spectrum

Resources

Introduction to Waves - PPT by Ms. Vanessa Palmer

Videos

Wavelegth & frequencies - a visual explanation
Wavelength - Brightstorm
Wavelengths - BBC Bytesize
Wavelength, Frequency & amplitude - Khan Academy - Homework
Light waves, visible and invisible - TED-Ed

* Information from Ms. Vanessa Palmer & Integrated Physics and Chemistry