6 Physical Science Light

BUILDING BLOCKS OF SCIENCE LIGHT

WHAT IS LIGHT? Have you ever wondered how you see? Or where colors come from? In order to see, you need me! I'm Light!

I'm a kind of energy! I travel in a straight path until I hit an object. Then I bounce off that object and travel toward you... RIGHT INTO YOUR EYES! I'm a part of your everyday life. Let's see how!

Natural light comes from the sun. It looks white to you. This is the light that allows you to see. Without light, you would not have food to eat or air to breathe. That's because plants and many kinds of ocean life use light from the sun to make food and oxygen.

All the food you eat and the oxygen you breathe can be traced to these living things, and therefore to me! The energy in fuels also comes from sunlight. Fossil fuels are made from the remains of living things that died millions of years ago. People use these fuels to produce electric power and to operate machines. All the energy in these fuels originally came from sunlight.

WHAT ARE LIGHT WAVES? Light can travel through air, water, and space. But I move differently than you. I move like a wave. A light wave! Like ocean waves, light waves are a series of peaks and valleys. A peak is like the top of the wave. A valley is the low point.