The Optical Society of America provides a variety of educational materials for students from elementary school through 12th grade. Many of these resources are available free of charge.
Piled Higher & Deeper is a grad student comic strip created by by Jorge Cham. New comics are posted approximately 2.718 times a week View:Piled Higher & Deeper
Walter Lewin, professor of physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, sheds light on everyday phenomena such as rainbows and what makes the sky blue. Watch Lewin create a rainbow right in the lecture hall and other exciting demonstrations in this engaging and creative discussion of physics that sheds what lies beneath the everyday wonders of our world. Video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJVvtOy-ukEM
Brand new in 2010, this four-part poster series explores lasers, cross-polarization, acoustics and echolocation. The posters are available in English, Spanish, French, Russian and Mandarin. Request a set of posters. Making Waves - Discover Science Poster Series
This 15 minute DVD is geared toward 12 and 13 year old students, and is a great resource for raising awareness of optical science, along with its applications and many career opportunities. In addition to introductory information about the science of optics, the video highlights real world applications of optical technology, from everyday items like remote controls, cell phones and bar code scanners to space exploration, innovations in solar energy and new frontiers in medicine. A variety of career options are highlighted through clips from a diverse group of scientists currently working in the field. Helpful advice and encouragement to students is included throughout.
Youtube Video - Part I & Part II
This two-part scientific detective tale tells the story of a remarkable group of pioneers who wanted to reach the ultimate extreme: absolute zero, a place so cold that the physical world as we know it doesn't exist, electricity flows without resistance, fluids defy gravity and the speed of light can be reduced to 38 miles per hour.
OSA has created four, 18x24 full color posters, designed for display in middle and high school science classrooms. Each poster features a striking image highlighting the science of optics and a brief explanation of the optical phenomena behind the image. Additionally, each poster has a downloadable pamphlet featuring a more detailed explanation of the image, easy to implement experiments, definitions of terms and biographies of scientists, engineers and technicians in the field.
Request a set of posters.
This 42 minute video traces the fast-paced history of the laser and includes exciting visual depictions of laser applications. Targeted to high school and post-secondary students, the CD focuses on the characteristics of diode, solid-state and gas lasers and the properties that make them useful in a variety of applications including telecommunications, entertainment, biomedicine and the military.
The Optics Discovery Kit provides educators with classroom tools and optics lessons. The Kit features 11 experiments that demonstrate basic principles of optics. Components include: lenses, color filters, polarizers, optical fibers, a mirror, a hologram, an anamorphic image and a diffraction grating. Includes teacher and student guides.
Terrific Telescopes is an education packet based upon the Hands-On Optics (HOO) program. The kit’s activities give students the opportunity to learn about the properties of lenses such as the focal length and the “flippoint”. The lessons and materials also demonstrate how to use a single lens and other household objects as simple magnifiers. Students are encouraged to discover how to combine two lenses together to create a simple refracting telescope. The educator led activities include demonstrations of how light bends, and how lenses are used to create colorful images. A teacher’s guide with step-by-step instructions is included with the kit.
Developed by the OSA Rochester Local Section, the Optics Suitcase is an innovative, interactive presentation package designed to introduce middle school students to a variety of science concepts. The suitcase provides students with packets of materials that can be taken home to show to friends and family members as a reinforcement of the classroom lessons. To view the Suitcase Teaching Guide and to read articles about outreach programs that have successfully used these materials visit: http://www.opticsexcellence.org/SJ_TeamSite/index.html.
For more information about ordering any of these products please contact opticseducation@osa.org.