Distinguish objects that give out their own light from surfaces that reflect light.
A mirror looks bright.
A lamp looks bright.
Did their light start in the same place?
Success looks like
Use evidence to classify a source or reflector.
Explain how a non-glowing object can be seen.
Recognise reflection from both mirrors and ordinary surfaces.
Retrieval
BUILD · SCIENCE · Lesson 5 of 10
Follow the light
1. What do we need to see?
2. Does light enter the eye?
3. Does an unlit plain card glow?
I do
BUILD · SCIENCE · Lesson 5 of 10
I ask where the light began
The lit lamp gives out light.
The card receives light.
It reflects some of that light.
Make light or reflect it?Diagram description
A lit lamp gives out its own visible light. A non-luminous card reflects some light arriving from that lamp. Both can be seen when light reaches an eye.
I do
BUILD · SCIENCE · Lesson 5 of 10
A mirror redirects light
Light reaches the mirror.
Reflected light reaches the screen.
Switching off removes this source.
A mirror changes the light directionDiagram description
A ray travels down and right onto a horizontal mirror, then up and right towards a screen; incident and reflected angles are equal in this schematic.
I do
BUILD · SCIENCE · Lesson 5 of 10
Paper reflects too
Paper need not look shiny.
Some reflected light reaches us.
Ordinary paper reflects light tooDiagram description
A source ray reaches a rough paper surface; reflected rays leave in several directions. This is a schematic of diffuse reflection, not a ray traced from one perfectly flat point.
A, C and E give out their own light in these cases.
Source or reflector: evidence challenge
Make a choice, test it against the stated evidence, then trace where the light began.
Decision 1 of 3
Card A is a switched-on LED lamp. How is it supplying light?
Make light or reflect it?
Card A is a source. Card F, ordinary paper, reflects some light that reaches it.
Decision 2 of 3
Card D is a mirror lit by room light. Where did its reflected light begin?
A mirror changes the light direction
A mirror changes direction. It needs arriving light to provide this reflected path.
Decision 3 of 3
Card F is plain white paper. Can it reflect light without a clear mirror image?
Ordinary paper reflects light too
Reflection need not form a clear image. Paper can be seen when some reflected light enters the eye.
All decisions checked. Explain one choice using the evidence, then save your work.
Choose, test, then explain together. Evidence diagrams appear only after your test. Diagram transitions explain the model; they do not represent real elapsed time. Use Pause model to stop transitions and model controls, or your device’s reduced-motion setting. The printed We do activity provides the paper route.
We do
BUILD · SCIENCE · Lesson 5 of 10
The switch-off challenge
The phone screen is now off.
Room light still reaches it.
Can it be visible? Why?
W2. How does switching off change our account?
The off screen can reflect room light. It no longer supplies its own display light.
Hinge
BUILD · SCIENCE · Lesson 5 of 10
Which statement works?
Choose one and give a reason.
You do
BUILD · SCIENCE · Lesson 5 of 10
Choose your investigation route
Match source or reflector.
Write a display label.
Repair a sorting rule.
You do
BUILD · SCIENCE · Lesson 5 of 10
Use the evidence
Read or point to one clue.
Record what it supports.
Keep your explanation short.
Continue within this stage’s shared time.
You do
BUILD · SCIENCE · Lesson 5 of 10
Make your own science record
Complete your chosen route.
Use a diagram, words or speech.
Check one answer with the evidence.
You do
BUILD · SCIENCE · Lesson 5 of 10
Check and improve
Does my answer match the evidence?
Have I explained why?
Improve one label or sentence.
Continue within this stage’s shared time.
Review
BUILD · SCIENCE · Lesson 5 of 10
Lundy loop: improve our account
Choose how to share one idea.
Listen to another explanation.
Use evidence to improve our account.
How should we replace “bright means source”?
Ask: does it give out its own light, or reflect light arriving from elsewhere?
Exit
BUILD · SCIENCE · Lesson 5 of 10
Three quick checks
E1. What is a light source?
E2. Does ordinary paper reflect light?
E3. Does the Moon make the sunlight we see from it?
See the teacher answer guide for the three checks.
Slide 1
BUILD SCIENCE · Light-source detectives
Evidence: six light cases
Constructed teaching cards. Classify the stated case.
A • Lit LED lamp
The switched-on LED gives out visible light.
B • Moon
Sunlight reaches the Moon. Some is reflected towards Earth.
C • Phone screen on
The working display gives out visible light.
D • Mirror
Room light reaches the mirror and is reflected.
E • Firefly
This insect produces light through a chemical reaction in its body.
F • White paper
A lamp lights the ordinary paper. The paper reflects some light.
W1. Which cards describe sources? Give one clue.
W2. The phone screen is off in a lit room. How can it still be seen?
BUILD SCIENCE · Light-source detectives
Route 1 • Sort and explain
Word bank: source / reflects / light / eye.
S1. Card A is a __.
☐ Source
☐ Reflector only in this case
S2. Card D __ light from the room.
☐ Makes
☐ Reflects
S3. Put B and F in the source or reflector group.
S4. Explain how light from paper reaches the eye.
S5. Name one source that is a living thing, using the cards.
BUILD SCIENCE · Light-source detectives
Route 2 • Make a display label
Use the card evidence, not brightness or shine.
Task
Card
Source or reflector?
T1
A
T1
B
T1
C
T1
D
T1
E
T1
F
T2. Write a label explaining how a mirror can look bright.
T3. Draw a source → paper → eye light path.
BUILD SCIENCE · Light-source detectives
Route 3 • Challenge the rule
A display says: “If it shines, it must be a source.”
X1. Use a card to show why this rule fails.
X2. Replace it with a better sorting question.
X3. Compare the phone screen on and off in a lit room.
X4. A mirror is placed in a box with no light at all. Predict whether it can light the box. Explain.
BUILD SCIENCE · Light-source detectives
Exit and reflection
Point, draw, write or tell an adult.
E1. What is a light source?
E2. Does ordinary paper reflect light?
E3. Does the Moon make the sunlight we see from it?
R1. Which idea did you improve after hearing evidence?