Unit 4: Yule
Physics: Waves, Light & Sound
6 weeks (Nov 24 – Jan 9) • 1st Principle: Inherent Worth & Dignity
Unit Overview
Yule celebrates the return of light at the winter solstice—a perfect time to study the physics of light and waves. We explore how light travels, bends, and creates the colors we see. In literature, we read the Transcendentalists who sought inner light, and the Harlem Renaissance writers who brought Black voices into the American literary spotlight. History covers the dramatic changes from the Gilded Age through the Roaring Twenties.
Literature Focus
Transcendentalists, Twain, Harlem Renaissance
Math Focus
Radicals, rational exponents, intro to logarithms
Science Focus
Waves, light, reflection, refraction, sound
History Focus
Gilded Age, Progressive Era, WWI, Roaring Twenties
Weekly Lesson Plans
Waves and Light
🕯️ Hearth Circle
Opening Yule ritual: Lighting candles in darkness. How does light travel? What is the nature of light?
📚 Language Arts
Transcendentalist literature: Ralph Waldo Emerson's 'Nature' and 'Self-Reliance' excerpts. The inner light.
📐 Math (Algebra II)
Introduction to radical expressions: Simplifying square roots, cube roots. Properties of radicals.
💡 Science (Physics)
Wave properties: Wavelength, frequency, amplitude, speed. Mechanical vs. electromagnetic waves.
🏛️ History
The Gilded Age: Industrialization, immigration, urbanization. Light and shadow of progress.
🎨 Art
Light in art: Study Impressionism and how artists captured light. Create a light study painting.
🏃 Movement
Wave demonstrations: Slinky waves, rope waves, water waves. Observe wave properties.
The Electromagnetic Spectrum
🕯️ Hearth Circle
The 1st Principle: Inherent worth and dignity. How do we see the 'light' in every person?
📚 Language Arts
Henry David Thoreau: 'Walden' excerpts and 'Civil Disobedience.' Living deliberately.
📐 Math (Algebra II)
Operations with radicals: Adding, subtracting, multiplying. Rationalizing denominators.
💡 Science (Physics)
The electromagnetic spectrum: Radio waves to gamma rays. Visible light as a small slice.
🏛️ History
Progressive Era beginnings: Reform movements, muckrakers, the push for change.
🎨 Art
Color theory and the spectrum: Create a color wheel, explore complementary colors.
🏃 Movement
Spectrum scavenger hunt: Find examples of different EM waves in daily life (radio, microwave, infrared, etc.).
Reflection and Refraction
🕯️ Hearth Circle
Winter Solstice approaches: The longest night. How do we find light within ourselves during dark times?
📚 Language Arts
Emily Dickinson's poetry: 'There's a certain Slant of light,' 'Tell all the truth but tell it slant.' Light as metaphor.
📐 Math (Algebra II)
Solving radical equations. Checking for extraneous solutions. Applications.
💡 Science (Physics)
Reflection: Law of reflection, mirrors (plane, concave, convex). Image formation.
🏛️ History
Women's suffrage movement: The long fight for the vote. Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
🎨 Art
Mirror art: Create art using reflection, symmetry, or mirrors as medium.
🏃 Movement
Mirror experiments: Explore plane and curved mirrors. Build a periscope.
Light Bends
🕯️ Hearth Circle
Yule celebration: The return of the light. What hopes do we carry into the new year?
📚 Language Arts
Mark Twain: 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn' excerpts. Satire and social commentary.
📐 Math (Algebra II)
Rational exponents: Connecting radicals and exponents. Simplifying expressions with rational exponents.
💡 Science (Physics)
Refraction: Snell's Law, index of refraction. Lenses (converging, diverging). Applications.
🏛️ History
Labor movement: Workers' rights, unions, strikes. The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire.
🎨 Art
Lens photography: Explore how cameras use lenses. Take photos experimenting with focus and light.
🏃 Movement
Refraction experiments: Pencil in water, prisms, making rainbows.
🎉 Celebration
Yule Feast: Celebrate the solstice with candles, evergreens, and reflection on the year past and year ahead.
Sound Waves
🕯️ Hearth Circle
Sound carries meaning: music, speech, nature. How do we listen deeply?
📚 Language Arts
Harlem Renaissance introduction: Langston Hughes' early poetry. 'The Negro Speaks of Rivers,' 'Dreams.'
📐 Math (Algebra II)
Exponential functions: Graphing, properties, growth and decay models.
💡 Science (Physics)
Sound waves: Properties of sound, speed of sound, resonance, the Doppler effect.
🏛️ History
World War I: Causes, American involvement, the home front. The war to end all wars.
🎨 Art
Sound visualization: Create visual art representing music or sound. Explore cymatics.
🏃 Movement
Sound experiments: Tuning forks, resonance tubes, Doppler effect with moving sound sources.
Interference and Diffraction
🕯️ Hearth Circle
Waves can combine constructively or destructively. How do our actions combine with others'?
📚 Language Arts
More Harlem Renaissance: Claude McKay, Zora Neale Hurston excerpts. Celebrating Black voices.
📐 Math (Algebra II)
Logarithms introduction: Definition, properties, common and natural logs.
💡 Science (Physics)
Wave interference: Constructive and destructive. Diffraction. Double-slit experiment.
🏛️ History
The Roaring Twenties: Cultural explosion, jazz age, changing social norms. Light and shadow.
🎨 Art
Jazz-inspired art: Study Aaron Douglas and Harlem Renaissance visual art. Create a piece in this style.
🏃 Movement
Interference demonstrations: Two-source interference, diffraction gratings, soap bubble colors.
📺 "Just Can't" Day Alternatives
When formal lessons aren't possible, these resources cover similar content:
- • Cosmos (Neil deGrasse Tyson) - Episodes on light and waves
- • The Great Gatsby (2013 film) - Roaring Twenties visual
- • Crash Course Physics - Light and waves episodes (YouTube)
- • Khan Academy - Algebra II: Exponentials and logarithms
- • They Shall Not Grow Old (WWI documentary by Peter Jackson)