Periscope Project

by Julia Parker, from the July 2005 Newsletter

Summer is a great time of year to create science projects. Long days and more free time allow kids to explore concepts in-depth—whether this means dissecting flowers, watching wildlife, seeing if you really can dig to China, or working in a kitchen science lab depends on the day. Messes can be made outside. Children can be hosed off.

My daughter Simone and I have been working on science projects from the book Light: Color and Lenses by Pam Robson (which generally require no hosing off of children). Projects from this book, like tissue paper “stained glass” windows, pigment drawings and periscopes, tend to incorporate both art and science.

For Simone’s fifth birthday party, we decided that her little guests would work on making periscopes. She and I made one together prior to the party to see how it worked. As it turned out, this project was way too complicated for five-year-olds without their parents at a birthday party—better to make these one-on-one with a young child or save the project for older children!

In theory, this science project helps kids learn the physics of light. I’ll leave it to you to explain the intricacies of physics to your own kids. But, basically the periscope works because light from any object is reflected by a mirror. The angle of the two mirrors in the periscope allows the reflection to bounce from the first mirror to the second and then into the child’s eye. We just had fun making the project and being able to look over the backyard fence with our homemade periscope.

Materials
Poster board or other thin cardboard
Two mirrors (each 3” by 3”)
Masking tape
Cellophane tape or glue
Crayons or markers

Instructions
Tape the edges of the mirrors with masking tape.
Cut a piece of cardboard 30 cm by 30 cm and draw the guidelines on as shown in the illustration.
Cut holes and slats as directed in the illustration—the slats are for the mirrors to slide through and the square holes are for viewing and light reflection.
Decorate outside of cardboard if you wish.
Fold along the dotted lines.
Tape or glue down the overlapping side.
Slide mirrors into place so that they face each other.
Make sure mirrors are not going to slide out; use a few drops of glue or extra tape if needed.

To use your new periscope, look into the bottom square and see the reflection from the top mirror. Use the periscope to see up high or around corners! (What does the dog do when she doesn’t know you are looking, anyway?) Because the mirrors are glass, be sure to supervise your kids when they play with this periscope.

Julia Parker can be seen in and around Moscow with Simone, the science wizard and fashion princess, in tow most days this summer.

Copyright: Copyright on articles and recipes are jointly held by the Moscow Food Co-op and the respective authors, except were otherwise noted.

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