OPENING QUESTION: One of our workstations for our current activities involves two electric devices that generate light.

• How do they do that?

One of those is the very cool lightening generator.

• Why did I include that?
• What *must* be occurring to cause those really cool 'streamers' of light?

SUB: Please randomly select a student to come up and act as 'teach' to run the conversation (they know how to do that).

Please ensure that students are writing/sketching/talking as they process this opening question and ARE NOT researching the topic on their chromies. (Thanks!)

Also, the second question (about the lightening generator) is *tough*, please take however much time it takes for students to determine a practical explanation for how that device works. Once again, please ensure that students are NOT using their chromies at all for this. Phones are NOT allowed in my class so *ahem* that won't be a problem.

═══════════════════════════

LEARNING TARGET: Student-led conversations:

Review how photons are created

Review form of e-m waves

Review 'quantum jumps'

Review the importance of 'energy levels'

c=λυ

Review "Rowdy Martians"

Where do we want to go from here?

WORDS O' THE DAY:

• electromagnetic waves
• electrons AT REST
• EXCITED electrons
• quantum jump
• energy levels
• excited (electron) = ("electrons 'jolted' into a higher energy level")
• ground state (electron) = ("electrons existing on the lowest energy level")

FORMULAE OBJECTUS:

c=λυ: The speed of light (c) = wavelength (λ named "lamda") x frequency υ named "nu") Physicists LOVE to use greek letters... get used to it!

E = hυ: The energy carried by a photon

WORK O' THE DAY:

We have a new formula today (see above).

• Please now *do* open your chromies and determine what the constant "h" has to do with things.
• Divide and conquer the following with other members of your group:
• Refer to the following chart and calculate the amount of energy in a photon of gamma light.
• Compare that to the energy carried by a photon of green light
• And compare that to the energy carried by a sample microwave photon.
• Finally, compare THOSE to the energy carried by an ELF photon (Of course you'll need to remember what an ELF wave is, please discuss)

SUB: Please randomly select a student to come up and act as 'teach' to run the conversation, please make everyone knows the value of "h".

Please ensure that students are writing/sketching/talking as they do those calculations.

Let's get sample values for each of those on the whiteboard to make sure we are <wait for it.....> On the same wavelength!!!

 

═══════════════════════════