Resource 1: Safety advice for teachers

Background information / subject knowledge for teacher

Not looking at the sun

It is really important that you warn children to NEVER look at the sun directly. Tell them our eyes have built-in lenses that act like magnifying glasses and will focus the HEAT as well as the light energy from the sun onto the tender back of the eyeball, the retina, which helps us see. This heat can burn and destroy forever the cells of the retina, just like a magnifying glass can burn and destroy paper. (Using things like binoculars would be even more dangerous.) Tell them that nobody should ever take chances with something as precious as their sight.

Don’t get burnt

Most other direct light sources also involve quite intense heat. Only insects like fireflies and glowworms seem able to produce light without heat. Supervise children carefully when flames are involved. Also, make sure that matches are kept safe and used properly.

Electric shocks

All the usual necessary precautions need to be taken when electrical appliances are being used in the classroom as sources of light. (No damaged cables, no faulty connections, plugs properly wired, and no water near electricity).

Finally, it is not nice to think of any pupil getting hurt, burnt or injured, but make sure that you have thought about the possibility that it might happen to you or a colleague, and be prepared to take the proper first aid action.

3. Using Science to solve a problem

Resource 2: Wall Shadows