Lighting the slums of the Philippines

Lighting the slums of the Philippines
Publication Date: October, 2011
Type of Resource: Video/animation

This YouTube video shows a household demonstration of the refraction of light.

The resource is a 6.25-minute video showing how the ability to refract light can be used to develop a simple cheap technology to solve problems.

In the slums of a neighbourhood in the Philippines, the houses are so close together that they get very little natural light. A Filipino man uses a recycled PET bottle filled with water and a little bleach to solve the problem.

This video that could be used as a provocation for discussing how light travels and can be bent, and for discussing how science knowledge helps us to solve problems.

New Australian Curriculum 9 Codes: AC9S4U04 (Year 4), AC9S5U03 (Year 5)

Australian Curriculum:
  • Year 4 > Science Understanding > Chemical Sciences > Natural and processed materials have a range of physical properties that can... > ACSSU074
  • Year 5 > Science Understanding > Physical Sciences > Light from a source forms shadows and can be absorbed, reflected and refracted > ACSSU080
  • Year 5 > Science as a Human Endeavour > Nature and development of science > Science involves testing predictions by gathering data and using evidence to... > ACSHE081
  • Year 5 > Science as a Human Endeavour > Use and influence of science > Scientific knowledge is used to solve problems and inform personal and... > ACSHE083