Have you ever noticed that you can’t see anything in a completely dark room? That’s because we need light to see!

Light from a source (like the sun or a streetlight!) bounces off objects and enters our eyes, allowing us to see the world around us.

A simple diagram illustrating how we see objects. The image shows a bright yellow sun shining on a red flower with green leaves. One black arrow points from the sun to the flower, representing light hitting the flower. Another black arrow points from the flower to a smiling girl in a yellow shirt, representing the reflected light traveling to her eyes, allowing her to see the flower.

Think back to the streets in the last activity:

🌙 With no streetlights, everything is dark and it’s hard to see.
💡 With lots of streetlights, light reflects off buildings, sidewalks, and people, making them visible!

TRY THIS!

  1. Find a small object (like a toy or a book) and place it in a dark space. Can you see it?
  2. Now, shine a flashlight or turn on a lamp. What happens?
  3. Move the light around. Does the brightness or angle change how well you can see the object?