Energy: Light

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

The sun produces light and heat.

Light and heat are both forms of energy.

Energy is another way to describe the ability to make things happen and work. We need heat and light energy from the sun to survive.

Explore light energy in this lesson.

There are natural sources of light and artificial sources of light.

Natural light sources naturally occur in space or on the earth. People create artificial sources of light.

The earth gets light energy from the sun. The sun is a star that gives off natural light. It takes about eight minutes for the sun's light to reach the earth.

The stars in the night sky also give off natural light. They do not give off as much light as the sun because they are farther away from the earth. Some stars are too small to give off heat.

Another natural source of light is fire.

Lamps, streetlights, lasers, strobe lights, and neon lights are all artificial lights.

Light travels in a straight line.

Think about the white lights in your home.

• Did you know white light is a mix of every color in the rainbow?

If you were to take white light and shine it through a prism like the one below, all the colors of the rainbow would be shown on the other side.

• Did you learn a lot about light energy?

Keep it up in the Got It? section.