This Kapow pupil video is part of the Kapow Science scheme of work. What happens to light at the source? And how does it travel so we can see? Light travels in straight lines and enters our eyes, either directly from something luminous, like a torch, or after bouncing off a non-luminous object.

To spot patterns in reflection, it helps to use a narrow beam, like a laser. Never shine it into someone’s eyes. The ray of light that hits the mirror is the incoming ray, and the one that bounces off is the reflected ray. In this investigation, you’ll test how changing the angle of the incoming ray affects the angle of the reflected ray. This is a fair test – you’ll change one thing and keep everything else the same. Mark the mirror’s position on paper and shine the laser at set angles. Measure where the light travels and see what pattern you discover. What do you predict will happen?

The video is designed to be shown to pupils as part of Science, Upper key stage 2, Year 6, Energy: Light and reflection, Lesson 4: Reflecting light