UNIT1 READING 2 “Light”

“Light”

This informational text tells us what light is and how it behaves. It explains that
light is a kind of energy that travels to us from the sun in waves. These
electromagnetic waves have different lengths, or wavelengths. When our eyes
take in different wavelengths of light, we see different colors. When light strikes
an object, it can bounce off the object, be taken into it, or pass through it. The
text uses these facts to explain why we can see through some objects, such as
glass, but not others. It also explains how different types of mirrors work.

Key Words

• concave: curved inward like a bowl
• convex: curved outward like the surface of

a ball

• opaque: unable to be seen through
• translucent: able to allow some light to pass through
• transparent: clear, able to be seen through
• wavelength: the distance between two waves of light

Academic Words

energy = usable power

 ➡ Light and heat are forms of energy.

interpret = explain or decide what

something means 

➡ Your brain will interpret different

wavelengths of light as different colors.

transmit = pass something through

 ➡ You can transmit light through glass.

virtual = able to be seen but not real 

➡ What you see in a mirror is a virtual image.

visible = able to be seen 

➡ Light waves are the only electromagnetic

waves that are visible.

Highlighted 

Words

• electromagnetic waves, waves that form when an electric field 

  couples with a magnetic field; the waves that make up 
  light
• parallel, two lines that stay the same distance apart and 

  never touch
• assumes, thinks that something is true; imagines