ScienceAges 7-9

Light, reflection & shadows

Explore how light travels in straight lines, reflects from mirrors and forms shadows behind opaque objects. Review suitability for your learners before teaching.

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Worksheet StudioPractice pack · Ages 7-9

Light, reflection & shadows

Take your time. Show your thinking.

1. What happens when a beam of white sunlight passes through a triangular glass prism: dispersion splits it into a spectrum of colours, or it turns into sound?
Light Ray (Straight Line) · Angle i = Angle r
2. Does light require a material medium (like air) to travel, or can it travel through the vacuum of space?
Light Ray (Straight Line) · Angle i = Angle r
3. Why does a red apple appear red in white daylight: it reflects red light and absorbs other colours, or it absorbs only red light?
Light Ray (Straight Line) · Angle i = Angle r
4. Why does an opaque object cast a dark shadow when placed in front of a torch: light travels in straight lines and cannot pass through the opaque object, or the object absorbs darkness?
Light Ray (Straight Line) · Angle i = Angle r
5. What happens to the size of an object’s shadow on a wall when the object is moved closer to the small light source: the shadow gets larger, or the shadow disappears?
Light Ray (Straight Line) · Angle i = Angle r
6. How does light travel through a uniform medium such as air or vacuum: in straight lines, or in curved loops?
Light Ray (Straight Line) · Angle i = Angle r
7. Why can sound NOT travel through the vacuum of outer space whereas light can: sound is a mechanical wave that needs vibrating particles, or space is too cold?
Light Ray (Straight Line) · Angle i = Angle r
8. Which light-sensitive layer at the back of the human eye detects focused light and sends signals to the brain via the optic nerve: the retina or the earlobe?
Light Ray (Straight Line) · Angle i = Angle r
9. What do we call the bending of a light ray when it passes at an angle from air into water or glass (due to a change in speed): refraction or absorption?
Light Ray (Straight Line) · Angle i = Angle r
10. Why do people often wear light-coloured or white clothing in hot sunny weather: white surfaces reflect most sunlight and stay cooler, or white absorbs all heat?
Light Ray (Straight Line) · Angle i = Angle r
11. What optical instrument uses two mirrors angled at 45° inside a tube to let an observer see over obstacles: a periscope or a stethoscope?
Light Ray (Straight Line) · Angle i = Angle r
12. What astronomical event occurs when Earth passes directly between the Sun and the Moon, casting Earth’s shadow onto the Moon: a lunar eclipse or a solar eclipse?
Light Ray (Straight Line) · Angle i = Angle r

12 questions · Seed 56 · Age guidance, not curriculum certification

View the answer key

Worksheet StudioAnswer key · Ages 7-9

Light, reflection & shadows

Answers and reasoning. Review before teaching.

1. What happens when a beam of white sunlight passes through a triangular glass prism: dispersion splits it into a spectrum of colours, or it turns into sound?
Dispersion splits it into a spectrum of colours
Different wavelengths of light refract by slightly different angles, dispersing white light into a rainbow spectrum.
2. Does light require a material medium (like air) to travel, or can it travel through the vacuum of space?
It can travel through the vacuum of space
Light is an electromagnetic wave and travels through vacuum at about 300,000 km/s.
3. Why does a red apple appear red in white daylight: it reflects red light and absorbs other colours, or it absorbs only red light?
It reflects red light and absorbs other colours
Pigments in the apple skin reflect red wavelengths to our eyes and absorb the rest of the spectrum.
4. Why does an opaque object cast a dark shadow when placed in front of a torch: light travels in straight lines and cannot pass through the opaque object, or the object absorbs darkness?
Light travels in straight lines and cannot pass through the opaque object
An opaque object blocks straight light rays, leaving a shaded region behind it.
5. What happens to the size of an object’s shadow on a wall when the object is moved closer to the small light source: the shadow gets larger, or the shadow disappears?
The shadow gets larger
Closer to the light source, the object blocks a wider cone of diverging light rays.
6. How does light travel through a uniform medium such as air or vacuum: in straight lines, or in curved loops?
In straight lines
Light rays travel in straight lines in a uniform medium.
7. Why can sound NOT travel through the vacuum of outer space whereas light can: sound is a mechanical wave that needs vibrating particles, or space is too cold?
Sound is a mechanical wave that needs vibrating particles
Sound waves require a medium (solid, liquid or gas) to transmit vibrations.
8. Which light-sensitive layer at the back of the human eye detects focused light and sends signals to the brain via the optic nerve: the retina or the earlobe?
Retina
Photoreceptor cells (rods and cones) in the retina convert light into nerve impulses.
9. What do we call the bending of a light ray when it passes at an angle from air into water or glass (due to a change in speed): refraction or absorption?
Refraction
Light slows down in denser media like water or glass, causing the ray to bend (refract).
10. Why do people often wear light-coloured or white clothing in hot sunny weather: white surfaces reflect most sunlight and stay cooler, or white absorbs all heat?
White surfaces reflect most sunlight and stay cooler
White and shiny surfaces reflect most incident radiation, whereas matt black surfaces absorb it.
11. What optical instrument uses two mirrors angled at 45° inside a tube to let an observer see over obstacles: a periscope or a stethoscope?
Periscope
A periscope reflects light twice through 90° using two parallel 45° mirrors.
12. What astronomical event occurs when Earth passes directly between the Sun and the Moon, casting Earth’s shadow onto the Moon: a lunar eclipse or a solar eclipse?
Lunar eclipse
During a lunar eclipse, the Full Moon moves through Earth’s shadow.

12 questions · Seed 56 · Age guidance, not curriculum certification

Worksheet StudioPractice pack · Ages 7-9

Light, reflection & shadows

Take your time. Show your thinking.

1. What happens when a beam of white sunlight passes through a triangular glass prism: dispersion splits it into a spectrum of colours, or it turns into sound?
Light Ray (Straight Line) · Angle i = Angle r
2. Does light require a material medium (like air) to travel, or can it travel through the vacuum of space?
Light Ray (Straight Line) · Angle i = Angle r
3. Why does a red apple appear red in white daylight: it reflects red light and absorbs other colours, or it absorbs only red light?
Light Ray (Straight Line) · Angle i = Angle r
4. Why does an opaque object cast a dark shadow when placed in front of a torch: light travels in straight lines and cannot pass through the opaque object, or the object absorbs darkness?
Light Ray (Straight Line) · Angle i = Angle r
5. What happens to the size of an object’s shadow on a wall when the object is moved closer to the small light source: the shadow gets larger, or the shadow disappears?
Light Ray (Straight Line) · Angle i = Angle r
6. How does light travel through a uniform medium such as air or vacuum: in straight lines, or in curved loops?
Light Ray (Straight Line) · Angle i = Angle r
7. Why can sound NOT travel through the vacuum of outer space whereas light can: sound is a mechanical wave that needs vibrating particles, or space is too cold?
Light Ray (Straight Line) · Angle i = Angle r
8. Which light-sensitive layer at the back of the human eye detects focused light and sends signals to the brain via the optic nerve: the retina or the earlobe?
Light Ray (Straight Line) · Angle i = Angle r
9. What do we call the bending of a light ray when it passes at an angle from air into water or glass (due to a change in speed): refraction or absorption?
Light Ray (Straight Line) · Angle i = Angle r
10. Why do people often wear light-coloured or white clothing in hot sunny weather: white surfaces reflect most sunlight and stay cooler, or white absorbs all heat?
Light Ray (Straight Line) · Angle i = Angle r
11. What optical instrument uses two mirrors angled at 45° inside a tube to let an observer see over obstacles: a periscope or a stethoscope?
Light Ray (Straight Line) · Angle i = Angle r
12. What astronomical event occurs when Earth passes directly between the Sun and the Moon, casting Earth’s shadow onto the Moon: a lunar eclipse or a solar eclipse?
Light Ray (Straight Line) · Angle i = Angle r

12 questions · Seed 56 · Age guidance, not curriculum certification

Worksheet StudioAnswer key · Ages 7-9

Light, reflection & shadows

Answers and reasoning. Review before teaching.

1. What happens when a beam of white sunlight passes through a triangular glass prism: dispersion splits it into a spectrum of colours, or it turns into sound?
Dispersion splits it into a spectrum of colours
Different wavelengths of light refract by slightly different angles, dispersing white light into a rainbow spectrum.
2. Does light require a material medium (like air) to travel, or can it travel through the vacuum of space?
It can travel through the vacuum of space
Light is an electromagnetic wave and travels through vacuum at about 300,000 km/s.
3. Why does a red apple appear red in white daylight: it reflects red light and absorbs other colours, or it absorbs only red light?
It reflects red light and absorbs other colours
Pigments in the apple skin reflect red wavelengths to our eyes and absorb the rest of the spectrum.
4. Why does an opaque object cast a dark shadow when placed in front of a torch: light travels in straight lines and cannot pass through the opaque object, or the object absorbs darkness?
Light travels in straight lines and cannot pass through the opaque object
An opaque object blocks straight light rays, leaving a shaded region behind it.
5. What happens to the size of an object’s shadow on a wall when the object is moved closer to the small light source: the shadow gets larger, or the shadow disappears?
The shadow gets larger
Closer to the light source, the object blocks a wider cone of diverging light rays.
6. How does light travel through a uniform medium such as air or vacuum: in straight lines, or in curved loops?
In straight lines
Light rays travel in straight lines in a uniform medium.
7. Why can sound NOT travel through the vacuum of outer space whereas light can: sound is a mechanical wave that needs vibrating particles, or space is too cold?
Sound is a mechanical wave that needs vibrating particles
Sound waves require a medium (solid, liquid or gas) to transmit vibrations.
8. Which light-sensitive layer at the back of the human eye detects focused light and sends signals to the brain via the optic nerve: the retina or the earlobe?
Retina
Photoreceptor cells (rods and cones) in the retina convert light into nerve impulses.
9. What do we call the bending of a light ray when it passes at an angle from air into water or glass (due to a change in speed): refraction or absorption?
Refraction
Light slows down in denser media like water or glass, causing the ray to bend (refract).
10. Why do people often wear light-coloured or white clothing in hot sunny weather: white surfaces reflect most sunlight and stay cooler, or white absorbs all heat?
White surfaces reflect most sunlight and stay cooler
White and shiny surfaces reflect most incident radiation, whereas matt black surfaces absorb it.
11. What optical instrument uses two mirrors angled at 45° inside a tube to let an observer see over obstacles: a periscope or a stethoscope?
Periscope
A periscope reflects light twice through 90° using two parallel 45° mirrors.
12. What astronomical event occurs when Earth passes directly between the Sun and the Moon, casting Earth’s shadow onto the Moon: a lunar eclipse or a solar eclipse?
Lunar eclipse
During a lunar eclipse, the Full Moon moves through Earth’s shadow.

12 questions · Seed 56 · Age guidance, not curriculum certification