West Mesa High School Cluster
West Mesa Middle School and Elementary Feeder Schools

Hands-on Optics Courses and Programs

Middle Schools

Three middle schools in the WMHS Cluster, Jimmy Carter, Harry S. Truman, and John Adams are introducing stimulating optics-related courses and activities. The UNM GK-12 program brings UNM optical engineering grad students into the science classrooms at these schools to assist the teachers in preparing and teaching meaningful hands-on experiences in optics. A goal of this program is to increase the interest in optics and science in underrepresented populations. The WMHS Cluster is predominantly Hispanic.

Truman Middle School offered the first "Optics Summer Camp" during the summer of 2004. This three-week intensive exposed middle school children to an assortment of exciting exercises and projects designed to help them think about "What is light?", all of the cool things that can be made from light, and how many of our everyday items work because of light. The "optics tools and objects" and the initial curriculum were developed by light artist, holographer, Ana MacArthur. Two science teachers at Truman Middle School, Keith Gaudet and Tamara Werner, further enhanced the curriculum and taught the summer camp. The camp optics curriculum was sponsored by Sandia National Laboratories.

Middle School Students Learn from Optics Camp

Homemade colored glasses teach what color is all about.		Understanding color mixing with two colored light sources.		The excitement of making one's own pinhole camera!

Truman Middle School Optics Summer Camp – Exercises using various light sources, colored lights, prisms revealing the colors existing in sunlight,  eyeglasses with colored gels, diffraction gratings, mirrors, lenses, soap bubbles (to expose them to wave optics), demonstrations of wave front interference, and understanding lasers with laser pointers were all components of the camp. Students built their own optics instruments such as periscopes, kaleidoscopes, and their favorite: a pinhole camera. The success of the pinhole camera project was related to the fact that it could be made at home from a common object, a tubular Quaker Oats box. The enthusiasm of the students increased when they developed their own photographs and took them home. The last part of the camp featured a small holographic table model and exciting holograms.

Elementary Schools

A few of the eight feeder elementary schools now have assistance in building exciting "hands-on optics" experiences into the curriculum of their science classes with the placement of UNM GK-12 grad students in the classroom. These GK-12 grads are valuable resources for developing effective content and applications to expose young students to the world of optics. The program began in AY2004.

Cool Links For Kids Excited About Optics

What is light?

Center for Science Education @ the Space Sciences Lab – Light Tour: discover the mysteries of light; cse.ssl.berkeley.edu/light/light_tour.html

Lightwave – Phil Photon helps you learn about light; www.lightwave.soton.ac.uk/

Cool things that can be made from light!

Holoworld.com – Many links about holograms made with laser light; www.holoworld.com/holo/links.html

Oatmeal Box Pinhole Photography – How to make great photographs from an oatmeal box; users.rcn.com/stewoody/

Sandia MEMS Image Gallery – Micro-electro-mechanical devices seen through a microscope; www.mems.sandia.gov/scripts/images.asp

What everyday items work because of light?

Polarized Light – Is light from the rainbow polarized?; www.polarization.com/

Project LITE – Explore light effects all around you; lite.bu.edu