Unit 8: Light and Optics. Order the entire electromagnetic spectrum, including the visible region, by energy, frequency, and wavelength.

Artifact:

One tool that can be used to learn this objective is a mnemonic. To make this more relevant, I chose a specific mnemonic to examine for this objective, and I chose a few others to look into the effectiveness of mnemonics in general as a tool for this unit.

The most fitting mnemonic for this objective that I found was:

Good X-rays Exhibit Fast Narrow Oscillations, Not Fat Slow Reiterations

Which stands for Gamma, X-ray, Extreme UV, Far UV, Near UV, Optical, Near Infrared, Far Infrared, Sub-millimeter, and Radio. (The entire electromagnetic spectrum).

I also decided to include some other good examples. Here's Dr. Barrans' favorite:

Greg's X-Ray Unveiled Viral Intestinal Sores Rotting

(Gamma, X-ray, UV, Visual, Infrared, Sub-millimeter, and Radio) This is just the basic spectrum without any of the extras.

Here's another for the same spectrum:

Go Xerox Enough Fliers Now Or No Families Shall Remember

And one more example for the visible light range:

Reading Over Your Geology Book Is Valuable

Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet

Implementation:

Mnemonics are simple, safe, legal, ethical, free, and easy studying tools. All that is really needed to use this tool is the knowledge of what the words stand for, and the patience to memorize it. The goal of a mnemonic is to create a memorable enough phrase so that each part can be remembered hopefully for years. In this case, the mnemonic helps the user to order the spectrum, and with further explanation it can be used to remember the energies, wavelengths, and frequencies. The first mnemonic helps the user remember this by saying that good x-ray’s exhibit fast, narrow oscillations. From this, we can remember that x-rays are high energy, so the mnemonic is ordered from high frequency, wavelength, and energy to low. Ideally the mnemonic would be taught after a lesson on light and energy waves. Elementary school children might not need to learn the entire electromagnetic spectrum, but a more “kid friendly” mnemonic could be created for a younger age range.

Evaluation:

The first mnemonic almost completely achieves the objective. Using it, the user can remember the entire spectrum, including classifications like “Extreme UV” that aren’t strictly necessary to learn at first. It also helps the user remember the energy, frequency, and wavelength using the method above. Where this mnemonic falls short is at the visible spectrum. It doesn’t order the visible spectrum, so it just falls short of the objective. The visible mnemonics are included to see if this shortfall can be compensated by using other mnemonics. It seems like everyone is familiar with the aid “Roy G Biv,” which effectively orders the visible light spectrum, or another mnemonic can be tailored to fit. Either way, this works to order the colors, but it falls short when trying to order the energy, wavelength, and frequency. Even in combination with the first mnemonic which helps with this problem these aren’t the greatest because they are listed in the opposite direction (lowest to highest energy).

The effectiveness of these tools relies on relevance. First, if the goal is to just learn the spectrum without the extras like “Extreme UV,” then a mnemonic like the second one might be more appropriate. But, if the emphasis is more on learning the order of the energy or some other characteristic, a mnemonic like the first might work better. This process also relies on the relevance of the mnemonic to the learner. The point of a mnemonic is that it relates to the creative part of someone’s memory; it makes an impact by making an image or story. If the words aren’t relevant to a learner’s experience, then they might have to be changed. If the learner finds the mnemonic humorous or otherwise relatable, the likelihood they will remember is much greater. The effectiveness of this tool lies in the fact that it can be changed to fit.

Mnemonics are also very cheap. They take a little time to make up or find, but they also save time that would be used trying to remember by repetition. They cost nothing because they are just words, so they are one of the most efficient ways to memorize something. Overall, mnemonics are a decent way to learn the spectrum. They don’t quite fulfill all of the requirements, but they are cheap and easy. Of course, the best option with mnemonics is to make your own!

All mnemonics from: "Ast 101: The Great Mnemonic Contest," retrieved Nov 18, 2009 from, http://www.astro.sunysb.edu/fwalter/AST101/mnemonic.html