Lesson 9: Opaque, Transparent, and Translucent

Learning Intention: Students will be able to define and differentiate between opaque, transparent, and translucent materials.

Introduction: 1. Begin the lesson by asking the students if they know what the terms opaque, transparent, and translucent mean. 2. Show the students a short video to introduce and explain the concepts. You can use the following video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJmVXARWLIY

Main Activity: 1. High Achievers (HA) and Middle Achievers (MA) will write a description of opaque, transparent, and translucent materials. 2. Low Achievers (LA) will draw and label examples of each type of material. 3. Pair up the students and provide them with torches. 4. In their pairs, students will test different materials using the torches to determine if they are opaque, transparent, or translucent. 5. In their science books, students will draw a table with three columns: “Object,” “Prediction,” and “Observation.” 6. Students will list an object in the first column, make a prediction about whether it is opaque, transparent, or translucent in the second column, and then test it with the torch to make an observation in the third column.

Resources: 1. Science books 2. Torches (provided by Jackson)