Perspectives: Mirrors

Perspectives: Mirrors Learning Group

Exploring Reflective Materials

Week of October 14, 2013

            During our previous explorations, the children have been using the long flat mirror or the smaller individual mirrors to explore their reflections and the reflections of objects in their environment. This week, I wanted to give the children the opportunity to expand their knowledge about reflections by using other materials they might be able to use like mirrors. Would the children notice their reflections in materials other than mirrors? How would these materials change or alter their reflections, and how would the react?

            I presented the children with a variety of reflective materials placed on the long mirror in the front of the classroom. I provided them with CDs, spoons, aluminum foil, bells and other materials which reflected. The children didn’t seem to know what to do with the materials at first, but once they realized they could see themselves in them, they became very interested. They pointed out their faces in the materials, but also noticed their reflections looked different depending on the material (aluminum foil vs. spoon, for example). They also noticed how these materials altered their reflections. While looking into a CD, Calvin said “Calvin colored!” and Oscar and Carraig noticed their reflections were upside down on one side of the spoon.

Oscar notices his reflection in the spoon and says “I’m upside down!” He then rotated the

spoon and turned it around and said “I’m upside up!”

After our explorations with these materials and observing how they changed the reflections we see, I want to provide the children with actual mirrors and other materials like water to see how reflections can change, even when using a real mirror.