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K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Talking lights

http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/sci_update.cfm?DocID=126

A lesson plan for grade 6 Science

Provider: American Association for the Advancement of Science


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In this Science Update, students explore florescent lights and how one company wants to turn the flickering patterns into code. Neil Lupton, president of the Talking Lights Company in Boston, says fluorescent lights can also be used as part of a wireless communications network to transmit information, which could be in the form of analog, digital, audio, or even graphic patterns. The technology is based on the fact that fluorescent lights flicker at a rate of about forty to sixty thousand times a second, too fast for the eye to see. By installing a special device onto a light bulb, that flicker rate can be varied to send coded information. Receivers in the room then detect and interpret those light signals. This technology could help blind people navigate unfamiliar places. Science NetLinks provides a link to the audio file, a written transcripts, and questions to engage students in discussion about this new technology and other possible uses. This activity also contains links to the Talking Lights Company website, NOVA’s “Virtual Enigma,” and How Stuff Works.

North Carolina Curriculum Alignment

Science (2005)

Grade 6

  • Goal 1: The learner will design and conduct investigations to demonstrate an understanding of scientific inquiry.
    • Objective 1.01: Identify and create questions and hypotheses that can be answered through scientific investigations.
    • Objective 1.05: Analyze evidence to:
      • Explain observations.
      • Make inferences and predictions.
      • Develop the relationship between evidence and explanation.
    • Objective 1.08: Use oral and written language to:
      • Communicate findings.
      • Defend conclusions of scientific investigations.
    • Objective 1.09: Use technologies and information systems to:
      • Research.
      • Gather and analyze data
      • Visualize data.
      • Disseminate findings to others.
    • Objective 1.10: Analyze and evaluate information from a scientifically literate viewpoint by reading, hearing, and/or viewing:
      • Scientific text.
      • Articles.
      • Events in the popular press.
  • Goal 2: The learner will demonstrate an understanding of technological design.
    • Objective 2.01: Explore evidence that "technology" has many definitions.
      • Artifact or hardware.
      • Methodology or technique.
      • System of production.
      • Social-technical system.
    • Objective 2.02: Use information systems to:
      • Identify scientific needs, human needs, or problems that are subject to technological solution.
      • Locate resources to obtain and test ideas.
    • Objective 2.03: Evaluate technological designs for:
      • Application of scientific principles.
      • Risks and benefits.
      • Constraints of design.
      • Consistent testing protocols.
  • Goal 6: The learner will conduct investigations and examine models and devices to build an understanding of the characteristics of energy transfer and/or transformation.
    • Objective 6.05: Analyze the physical interactions of light and matter:
      • Absorption.
      • Scattering.
      • Color perception.
      • Form and function of the human eye.