A short Year 6 crossword on light and how we see, on two pages with the solution on the second. Six clues fill the grid, two across and four down. The answers are straight, opaque, mirror, shadow, reflect and eye, and each clue gives the letter count. The grid is small, so it suits a starter or a vocabulary check more than a full lesson. It follows the England National Curriculum for science.
Light
“Explain that we see things because light travels from light sources to our eyes or from light sources to objects and then to our eyes”
Down 3 and Down 5 are about light bouncing off a surface and entering the eye. The sheet gives the words, not the explanation.
Light
“Recognise that light appears to travel in straight lines”
Across 2 is STRAIGHT.
Light
“Use the idea that light travels in straight lines to explain that objects are seen because they give out or reflect light into the eye”
Down 1 (mirror) and Down 3 (reflect) give the vocabulary. Pupils do not explain how we see an object.
Light
“Use the idea that light travels in straight lines to explain why shadows have the same shape as the objects that cast them.”
Down 2 (shadow) and Across 4 (opaque) give the words. The same-shape idea is not asked.
A numbered crossword grid on the first page, with the clues printed below it.
Clue 2 asks for the lines light travels in (8), and clue 4 for a material that blocks light completely (6).
Four clues: a shiny surface that forms a clear image, a dark area made by an opaque object, to bounce off a surface and the organ light must enter.
Starter
Hand it out as pupils arrive. Six clues take about five minutes.
Ray diagrams next
Once pupils have reflect and eye, ask them to draw a ray from a lamp to a book to an eye.
Shadow puppets
After Across 4, use opaque card shapes and a torch to show that a shadow has the same shape as the object.
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