Grandpa Fenn's Workshop
The Lighthouse
A sailor is coming home across the water and the harbor is far away. Grandpa has a lamp, a mirror and a big piece of glass. He says the glass is the secret.
Grandpa Fenn's Workshop
A sailor is coming home across the water and the harbor is far away. Grandpa has a lamp, a mirror and a big piece of glass. He says the glass is the secret.
Pick a lamp. Light it. Move the boat farther out and see what the sailor sees.
Grandpa smiles as the beam sweeps across the water. Somewhere out there a sailor sees one steady flash and steers for home.
A bare lamp sends light in every direction. Most of it goes where nobody is looking. By the time it reaches a far boat, it is too faint to see.
A mirror behind the lamp sends the light one way. A big curved glass lens bends the light into a narrow, strong beam. The beam goes much farther.
The lens turns around slowly. When the beam sweeps across the boat, the sailor sees a flash. A flash every few seconds says: here is the shore, and you are safe to come home.
Poppy watches the beamA bare lamp sends light everywhere and fades fast.
A mirror and a lens aim the light.
A narrow beam reaches farther.
Big word for the day. Focus. To gather light into one place or one direction.
More machines are waiting on the bench.
Back to the Chain Reaction Bench