Light and sound

Year 9 Science – Unit 1: Lessons 1-15

Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO), www.edresearch.edu.au

Live music
Credit: dotigabrielf/pixabay.com

Developed in partnership between AERO and Ochre Education, these lesson resources support the use of effective, evidence-based practices and address the learning expected in the Australian Curriculum. An exemplar unit plan provides guidance on the structure, sequence and decision-making made during the planning process.

This sequence of 15 lessons describes the properties of light and sound, and how they interact with the world around us.

Lesson 1 Describe the properties of light

www.edresearch.edu.au/guides-resources/ochre-resources/year-9-science-unit-1-lesson-1

Students will learn to describe transverse and longitudinal waves in terms of amplitude, wavelength, period and frequency.

Lesson 2 Describe reflection

www.edresearch.edu.au/guides-resources/ochre-resources/year-9-science-unit-1-lesson-2

Students will learn to describe how materials differ in terms of their properties, and describe how light behaves at the boundary of two media (reflection) using ray diagrams.

Lesson 3 Describe refraction

www.edresearch.edu.au/guides-resources/ochre-resources/year-9-science-unit-1-lesson-3

Students will learn how light behaves at the boundary of two media (refraction) using ray diagrams and how manipulation of light rays can be used to change the appearance of images.

Lesson 4 Describe total internal reflection

www.edresearch.edu.au/guides-resources/ochre-resources/year-9-science-unit-1-lesson-4

Students will learn to investigate the behaviour of light using ray diagrams, including critical angles.

Lesson 5 Describe how lenses work

www.edresearch.edu.au/guides-resources/ochre-resources/year-9-science-unit-1-lesson-5

Students will learn to use ray diagrams to describe the image formed by lenses and calculate the magnification of an image formed by a lens.

Lesson 6 Describe dispersion, colour and the EM spectrum

www.edresearch.edu.au/guides-resources/ochre-resources/year-9-science-unit-1-lesson-6

Students will learn how a colour is related to absorption, transmission and reflection of different wavelengths of light. They will also learn about the effect of viewing objects through filters; the effect on light of passing through filters; and why an opaque object has a particular colour.

Lesson 7 Understand the phenomenon of diffraction

www.edresearch.edu.au/guides-resources/ochre-resources/year-9-science-unit-1-lesson-7

Students will learn to describe the interaction between a gap and the wavelength, and the resultant diffraction and interference.

Lesson 8 Describe how sound waves propagate in air

www.edresearch.edu.au/guides-resources/ochre-resources/year-9-science-unit-1-lesson-8

Students will learn to describe processes that convert wave disturbances between sound waves and vibrations in solids. They will also learn why such processes only work over a limited frequency range and the relevance of this to human hearing.

Lesson 9 Describe echoes and superposition

www.edresearch.edu.au/guides-resources/ochre-resources/year-9-science-unit-1-lesson-9

Students will learn to define an echo, describe how superposition occurs and its effect on sound.

Lesson 10 Describe how standing waves are formed

www.edresearch.edu.au/guides-resources/ochre-resources/year-9-science-unit-1-lesson-10

Students will learn to describe the causes of standing waves and draw diagrams indicating nodes and antinodes.

Lesson 11 Understand pitch and frequency

www.edresearch.edu.au/guides-resources/ochre-resources/year-9-science-unit-1-lesson-11

Students will learn to describe how the pitch of sounds is determined and interpret oscilloscope traces for frequency.

Lesson 12 Amplitude and volume

www.edresearch.edu.au/guides-resources/ochre-resources/year-9-science-unit-1-lesson-12

Students will learn how the loudness of a sound is determined, and how to interpret oscilloscope traces for amplitude.

Lesson 13 Understand the speed of sound

www.edresearch.edu.au/guides-resources/ochre-resources/year-9-science-unit-1-lesson-13

Students will learn to calculate the speed of sound in air, describe and explain how the speed of sound varies in different media in terms of particles.

Lesson 14 Describe the components of the ear

www.edresearch.edu.au/guides-resources/ochre-resources/year-9-science-unit-1-lesson-14

Students will learn to identify key structures in the ear and describe how to parts of the ear work together to allow us to hear sound.

Lesson 15 Describe hearing ranges and ultrasound

www.edresearch.edu.au/guides-resources/ochre-resources/year-9-science-unit-1-lesson-15

Students will learn what is meant by 'hearing range' and how this differs with age and in different animals; measure the loudness of common sounds using appropriate units; describe what is meant by ultrasound; and state some uses of ultrasound.