In January 2010, the Explorers became secret agent spies—or perhaps submarine captains—by creating their own periscopes.
A periscope is a neat little contraption that uses mirrors to allow you to see around corners. The Explorers started by reviewing the principle of reflection, which is the bouncing of waves—light waves in this case—off of a surface. Using a laser, some string, a protractor, and a mirror mounted on the white board, they observed and measured one important fact about the reflection of light waves: the angle of incidence always equals the angle of reflection. What this means is that whatever angle the light hits the mirror, it will bounce back off in the other direction at the exact same angle. You can test this for yourself with a mirror at home: if you position yourself to the side of a mirror so that you can see the reflection of another person, you yourself will have to move to keep them in view in the mirror if the other person changes their position.
After testing angles with the laser, the Explorers were ready to start making their own periscopes. They began by following Mr. Ramsey’s directions to draw and cut out shapes on grid paper. These shapes were then laid on a sheet of poster board and traced one at a time to create a template for the periscope.
The members each cut out their own template, and then with a partner used a ruler to fold the various sides and parts into the right position. Tape then finished the assembly of the periscope bodies. The final step was to have Mr. Ramsey hot-glue a pair of mirrors, one at each end, into the periscope. And with that, the students were ready to start spying on their parents, brothers, sisters, or pets. Fluffy and Snoogums best be on their guard…...
To see some photos of our periscope activity, click on the Gallery link below. Note that we did not get a lot of pictures during this meeting—once the project assembly got going full-bore, the club assistant was busy helping everyone fold and tape, and Mr. Ramsey was occupied with the hot glue gun, so the camera was largely idle this time around. Still, there are a few decent shots.
