Transparent, Translucent, Opaque

Currently in Science we are learning about light.  In particular, we are focusing on the properties of light.  During free experimentation time with our flashlights, we figured out that light always travels in a straight line.  Next, we started talking about how light travels through different materials.  We learned that objects can be classified into one of three categories:

transparent - you can see through the material clearly because it transmits most light (e.g. a pair of glasses)

translucent - you can see through the material, but it's blurry because the light rays change angles as they go through the material (e.g. a bathroom window)

opaque - you can't see through the material because it absorbs the light  (e.g. a book)

To practice our classification skills, Ms. Birdsall divided us into partners and gave us of a bag of objects to identify as transparent, translucent or opaque.  The most surprising was the emergency blanket.  From a distance it looks opaque (kind of like aluminum foil), but when you look through it up close it's actually translucent!