Shedding Light on the Subject: Function Models of Light Decay
Overview

This activity explores the development of a mathematical model for the decay of light passing through water. The goal of this investigation is a rich exploration of exponential models in context. Throughout the activity    movie clips are available to see this activity in action in the classroom. Alternatively, the classroom observations are explored more fully in the Reflection on Practice: Sheddling Light on the Subject.

The activity is separated into four parts. These four segments are available at the bottom of every page.

Make a Conjecture	Gather Data	Analyze the Data	Reflect on your work

Make a Conjecture

In this segment, you'll be asked to think about the mathematics of modelling the light intensity in the ocean. You can view a movie segment of an underwater dive and a launch of this lesson in the classroom.

Gather Data

Take a virtual dive under water to gather light intensity data, conduct an experiments using a CBL or watch students conduct experiements using a CBL. The goal of this segment is to produce a data set and to initially examine the data set.

Analyze the Data

Three different methods of analyzing the data are investigated. The first uses an interactive grapher with sliders to adjust the values (parameters) in a function. A second method explores the data using discrete mathematics and difference equations. The third method linearizes the data using logarithms.

Reflect on your Work

The final segment of this activity extends and connects the learning of this investigation to other concepts.

Make a Conjecture

Gather Data

Analyze the Data

Reflect on your work