Proceedings Article | 10 September 2011
KEYWORDS: Mirrors, Geometrical optics, Lenses, Refraction, Image acquisition, Eye, Optical fibers, Reflection, Prisms, Glasses
Students at the school level from grade 7 to 12 are taught various concepts of geometrical optics but with little hands-on
activities. Light propagation through different media, image formation using lenses and mirrors under different
conditions and application of basic principles to characterization of lenses, mirrors and other instruments has been a
subject which although fascinates students but due to lack of suitable demonstrating setups, students find difficulty in
understanding these concepts and hence unable to appreciate the importance of such concepts in various useful scientific
apparatus, day to day life, instruments and devices. Therefore, students tend to cram various concepts related to
geometrical optics instead of understanding them. As part of the extension activity in the University Grants Commission
major research project "Investigating science hands-on to promote innovation and research at undergraduate level" and
University of Delhi at Acharya Narendra Dev College SPIE student chapter, students working under this optics outreach
programme have demonstrated various experiments on geometrical optics using a five beam laser ray box and various
optical components like different types of mirrors, lenses, prisms, optical fibers etc. The various hands-on activities
includes demonstrations on laws of reflection, image formation using plane, concave and convex mirrors, mirror
formula, total internal reflection, light propagation in an optical fiber, laws of refraction, image formation using concave
and convex lenses and combination of these lenses, lens formula, light propagation through prisms, dispersion in prism,
defects in eye- Myopia and hypermetropia. Subjects have been evaluated through pre and post tests in order to measure
the improvement in their level of understanding.
