Exploring Light’s Invisible Property - Using Low-Cost Demonstrations to Understand Polarization in Nature and Technology
We will present demonstration ideas for exploring polarized light in the real world, which use sheet polarizers that we provide and other inexpensive materials. These demonstrations can be adapted for many grades: younger students can learn to identify polarized light in the sky, reflections from windows, or on computer screens, while older students can learn about the phenomena that create polarized light and calculate the brightness of polarized light based on vector math.
Handouts & Resources
Erica Venkatesulu
Erica Venkatesulu is a PhD student at Montana State University studying optics. She is passionate about her research, measuring the polarization of clouds to determine if they are made of liquid water droplets or ice crystals, as well as science outreach. She served as an officer in the Optics and Photonics Society at MSU for four years, and one of the primary objectives of this group is to develop and present demonstrations teaching principles of optics. In this role, she has developed or improved several demos and has interacted with students from kindergarten through high school.
Luke Colberg
Luke Colberg is a PhD student at Montana State University, specializing in developing optical instruments for atmospheric science. As the current president of the Optics and Photonics Society at MSU, he aims to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers through outreach programs.
Being from Three Forks, he understands the need for engaging scientific education for rural students. Through the STEM Summer Institute, he hopes to enable teachers from across the state to provide these activities to their students and foster excitement for science in their communities.