A Bundle of Phyz: MIRRORS AND LENSES

Much can be made of spherical mirrors and thin lenses in the geometric optics curriculum. Here are a few.

Is the image upright or inverted? Enlarged or reduced? In "Image Characterization," students are tasked with such determinations.

In "Mirror Experience," students gaze upon their reflections in a hand-held spherical mirror at various distances and characterize their own images.

"Ray Tracing 1 and 2" are exercises in drawing principal rays to construct images in spherical mirrors.

"Magnification" explores the power of m: image magnification. So much information about an image can be conveyed in this simple, unitless value.

Next we plunge into the realm of thin lenses with "Lens Experience". A Fresnel lens works nicely for this one, as does having a partner.

"Ray Tracing 3 and 4" are exercises in drawing principal rays to construct images in thin lenses.

"Ray Tracing Meta-Analysis" looks back at Ray Tracings 1 through 4 to find patterns and generalizations.

A Bundle of Phyz: MIRRORS AND LENSES at Teachers Pay Teachers

All resources are available separately. Student assignments are print-friendly Google Docs files on Google Drive. Student assignments include answer keys.