Year 8 Science through a pinhole
Year 8 learn about eyes and cameras in Physics with a camera obscura experiment
In Year 8 Science, we are learning about eyes and cameras. We made a pinhole camera and used it to show how an image gets inverted.
Here are the steps we followed:
1. Get a printout of a net diagram of a cuboid. Cut it out including gluing flaps. 2. Cut out a small square in one of the faces of the diagram. 3. Stick tracing paper on this square to act as a screen. 4. Fold and stick the flaps together to make a small box. 5. Make a small pin sized hole in the opposite side of the screen face. 6. Hold the pin side face to a bright light source such as a filament bulb. 7. An inverted image of the filament will show on the screen.
What we learnt is that at its core, a pinhole camera is a simple device that consists of a light-tight box with a small pinhole, on one side. When light passes through this tiny opening, it projects an inverted image of the scene onto the opposite side of the cuboid, where a piece of tracing paper can be placed to capture the image. This is known as the camera obscura effect. The pinhole camera is the basis of how lens and digital cameras work.
Maryam A, Aya J and Amaya S
Fact: Did you know that artists from the sixteenth century onwards used a pinhole camera to help them get the correct proportions for a painting?