A couple of years ago, when my team of physics teachers started building instruction around the topic of electromagnetic radiation, I began assembling a list of different common uses of EM radiation. This list would provide a basis of information to use in our written instruction, as well as suggest hands-on activities, demonstrations, and labs.
I focused on uses that high-school students would be familiar with; cellphones, wi-fi and bluetooth, radar guns used to clock car speeds, microwave ovens, various remote control devices, tanning lights. My school is a technical school, so students have familiarity with other uses and devices; arc-welding, dental x-rays, high-voltage power lines, baby monitors, visible light and color. By focusing on what students might be familiar with, I hoped to reveal both prior knowledge and prior misunderstandings and misconceptions. A teacher could build on the prior knowledge, but more importantly would be obliged to address the misconceptions.
The list became a full table of data, with over 30 entries. It has become an object of study in itself, an exercise in the literacy of reading data tables and extracting useful information to answer questions and solve problems. This is a form of literacy familiar to our technical students, who in their shops must learn to read technical manuals full of similar tables.
The full table is shown below:
As usual for me, the table was constructed as an Excel file, making it easy to add or change data. If you have access to Adobe Acrobat Pro, you could also edit the PDF version. Here are the links for both versions:
Excel file, with instructions
PDF file
A very helpful online calculator and table: https://rechneronline.de/spectrum/
Another online converter and source of information: https://www.translatorscafe.com/unit-converter/en/frequency-wavelength/
Cross-posted to Teaching Is . . .
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