International year of light

 

Feeling in the dark about the science behind light? 

As part of the International Year of Light, we worked with local researchers at the University of Edinburgh to develop dances on the theme of Light. We then presented the dances at a public ceilidh with over 180 people attending in December at the Southside Community Centre, Edinburgh and then again at Dunbar Science Festival 2016  and you can see the results from our videos and pictures here.

You can read one scientists report of her experience here

Experiments and activities provided by the University of Edinburgh School of Chemistry and PROTEUS consortium.

Dances we wrote include:

  • How light is composed in the Prism Polka
  • How we can use light and optical technology to see inside the lungs with the PROTEUS Jig*
  • The behaviour of light in the Dashing White Light Wave
  • How fluorescence works in the Fluorescent Fling*
  • The hidden chemistry in your TV in the L.C.D (Liquid Crystal Dance)
  • Why the sky is Blue in the day and red in the evening with Shepherd's Delight*
  • How plants (and algae) use light in the Strip the Leaf*
  • How solar panels work in the Solar Strathspey
  • How our most important star illuminates the sky with the CumberSun Square Eight.

*For a few of these dances we have been busy filming and editing videos to explain the science, and will de developing accompanying resources (including DIY steps, explanations of the science, and teacher resources). You can see a preview of this with our dance on photosynthesis, Strip the Leaf, with Jessica Walker below and our accompanying teacher pack here.

Uploaded by FiddlerLewis on 2016-05-28.

The dances were first presented on the 5th of December 2015 in Edinburgh at the Southside Community Centre to over 180 people!

The dances were first presented on the 5th of December 2015 in Edinburgh at the Southside Community Centre to over 180 people!

Kindly funded by the Royal Society of Chemistry 

Kindly funded by the Royal Society of Chemistry