POLARIZED LIGHT ART

This STEAM lesson has includes both science and art activities.

MATERIALS:

Activity 1: A polarizing filter (polarizer). This can be the lens of polarized sunglasses or a piece of polarizing film (available from science supply houses), and an LCD screen such as a laptop monitor or television screen.

Activity 2: Polarizer and a bowl of water

Activity 3: Two polarizers

Activity 4: Polarizer and a piece of cellophane tape (like Scotch® tape) or food wrapper. Cellophane is the thin transparent film often used for food packaging or wrapping gift baskets. Some types of clear plastic will also work for this experiment – try them first.

Activity 5: Same as Activity 4 but use a square of transparency film to protect the monitor and polarizer from adhesive damage. You can tape directly to the film or, if you use cellophane/plastic that isn’t adhesive, use a small amount of glue stick.