Get a free trial until June 30, 2026!
New members get access to our science units, hands-on activities, mini-lessons, & more!

New members get a free trial through June 2026!
Back > Share
Back > Share

What if there were no windows?

Lights & Sounds Unit
Lesson 3 of 6
Light, Materials, Transparent & Opaque
4.7 (8225 reviews)
Lesson narration:
English Spanish
Scroll for prep
Video trouble?

How`would`your`life
be`different`if
there`were`no
glass?

Video trouble?

Sort`your`materials
Worksheets

Which`ones`were
hard`to`decide?
Where`did`you`put
them?

Video trouble?
Video trouble?
Video trouble?
Video trouble?
Video trouble?
Video trouble?
Video trouble?
🎉 That’s it for this lesson! How did it go?

Extend this lesson

Vocabulary

Assessments

Activity

View all extensions
Sign up now for more great lessons!
Sign up

More Fun with Paper Stained-Glass

Making paper stained-glass art is even more fun with these additional materials.

  • Cut up colored cellophane (available here). Use it in place of or in addition to tissue paper to make artwork that lets more light through.
  • Add opaque materials cut in interesting shapes. We like using star-shaped stickers to add dark stars to any paper stained glass project.

Ask students why adding these materials changes how their art looks.

You can also make art using a different pattern, such as a heart, a star, or a fish .

Everyday See-Through Materials

Ask students to find all the places in their lives where see-through materials let light through. Here are some examples.

  • Eyeglasses, binoculars, and telescopes all have clear lenses.
  • Light bulbs, headlights on cars, flashlights, traffic lights, and lanterns all have clear covers over something that’s making light.
  • Bottles and jars are often see through.
  • Water is clear. (If it wasn’t, how would fish see?)
  • Jello is see through, just for fun.

What other examples can you find?

Slide Image
Slide Image

glass


1 of 8

a material people make that's easy to see through
Slide Image

metal


2 of 8

a natural material that is often shiny and you cannot see through it
Slide Image

wood


3 of 8

a natural material that comes from trees
Slide Image

material


4 of 8

what something is made of, like metal, wood, or plastic
Slide Image

light


5 of 8

what comes from the Sun and lamps and makes it possible to see things
Slide Image

transparent


6 of 8

you can see through it, such as with glass
Slide Image

opaque


7 of 8

you cannot see through it, such as with the walls of a building
Slide Image

translucent


8 of 8

you can kind of but not completely see through it, such as with tissue paper

Image & Video Credits

Mystery Science respects the intellectual property rights of the owners of visual assets. We make every effort to use images and videos under appropriate licenses from the owner or by reaching out to the owner to get explicit permission. If you are the owner of a visual and believe we are using it without permission, please contact us—we will reply promptly and make things right.

Exploration
bedroom by Image used under license from Shutterstock.com: Iriana Shiyan
living room by Image used under license from Shutterstock.com: Gorin
window by Roger Mommaerts
car in driveway by Image used under license from Shutterstock.com: Imagenet
kid acting surprised by Image used under license from Shutterstock.com: saisnaps
transparent glass by Image used under license from Shutterstock.com: Syda Productions
office building windows by Image used under license from Shutterstock.com: Peshkova
lady driving a car by Image used under license from Shutterstock.com: Monkey Business Images
viking house by Image used under license from Shutterstock.com: jps
wooden board by Image used under license from Shutterstock.com: Dagmara_K
rock by Image used under license from Shutterstock.com: J. Schelkle
baking tray by Image used under license from Shutterstock.com: Paper Street Design
white wall by Image used under license from Shutterstock.com: horiyan
small house by Image used under license from Shutterstock.com: Thomas Photo
stained glass window by Crammed with Heaven
stained glass by Image used under license from 123rf.com: Darja Vorontsova
window by Image used under license from Shutterstock.com: mtr
cathedral glass making by LambertsGlas
glass making by kogvideo
glass making video by kogvideo
glass pouring by Bo Countryman
glass bottles by Penglai Industrial
attic by Image used under license from Shutterstock.com: John Wollwerth
Activity
oak finish window by Image used under license from Shutterstock.com: kenny1
stained glass inside of a house by Making it Lovely
shaki khan palace by Urek Meniashvili
Credits
What if there were no windows?
Lights & Sounds Unit
Lesson 3 of 6
Light, Materials, Transparent & Opaque
4.7 (8225 reviews)

Featured Reviews

“The kids are using the vocabulary even outside the lesson! Super cute craft with a helpful discussion question. The question helped to make a meaningful lesson wrap up.”
· Sara · Teacher
“This lesson was engaging to introduce light. I really enjoyed it and the kids loved the stained glass activity. ”
· Mayra · Teacher
“My class loved sorting materials by translucent, transparent, and opaque.It was a great hands-on activity that got them out of their seats.Even after the lesson, they are still identifying objects with those terms.”
· Valerie · Teacher
“I love that there was art incorporated in to this lesson. It created so much buy in with the students, made a beautiful art piece, and taught the standards in an accessible way!”
· Lauren · Teacher
“Lesson was based on NGSS standards and was developmentally appropriate for my first graders. They had fun with the hands on sorting of materials!”
· Lorraine · Teacher
“Kids loved making the various sound items listed in the extra resources - especially the bee hummer. The video was also interesting - kids liked learning how glass is made.”
· Rachel · Homeschooler
“The video was so engaging! Kids could not believe that glass was made from sand and that houses used to have no window. Lots of "oooohhs" and "aaaahhhs"”
· Jovan · Teacher
“Sorting the materials. Lots of discussion, disagreeing, explaining and justifying during that activity!”
· Jaymee · Teacher
“I loved the way the lessons are so clear for the students. I love the way it takes you through the entire lesson with the activities included.”
· Lisa · Teacher
“Sorting the different types of materials was very interactive and inspired some critical thinking.”
· Debra · Homeschooler
“The stained glass window activity was perfect to do using the plastic wrap and no glue!!”
· Jennica · Teacher
“Every lesson is engaging to my students. They look forward to the activities, and so do I!”
· Marcia · Teacher
“My students loved the sorting activity. We had some great discussions about why we were putting them in certain places. I can't wait for more!”
· Chelsea · Teacher
“The video is soooo age appropriate! It covers all the "sciencey" words but puts it into language first graders can understand. ”
· Wendy · Teacher
“The kids talking about what it would be like without windows - using vocabulary learned - making stained glass, super easy & the kids loved it!”
· Kimberly · Teacher
“Making the project. Also, the kids loved the idea of a car without windows...everything really made them think.”
· Carolina · Homeschooler
Lesson narration:
English Spanish

Activity Prep

Print Prep
In this lesson, students consider materials from the perspective of how much light they let through. In the activity, Paper Stained Glass, they use these materials to create a work of art.
Preview activity

Vocabulary

Assessments

I have a Mystery Pack

Flower Shape printout Print 30 copies
Sorting Sheets printout Print 8 copies
Opaque Materials
Cardboard or aluminum foil.
Details
8 items
Translucent Materials
Wax paper, tissue paper, cloudy plastic.
Details
8 items
Transparent Materials
Clear bottles or food containers, colored cellophane, clear report covers, plastic bags, CD cases.
Details
8 items
Glad Press 'n Seal
30 feet
Various Colors of Tissue Paper
45 sheets
Prep Instructions

For the main activity, Paper Stained Glass, you will need windows so you can display students' artwork.

Prepare Materials for a Short Sorting Exercise

This lesson includes a “Seeing & Sorting” exercise to get students thinking about light and materials before they make their Paper Stained Glass. We recommend you prepare a variety of opaque, translucent, and transparent materials and divide your class into groups of 2 to 4. Cut materials up so that each group has samples of all the materials. Materials do not have to be exactly the same size or shape. When you are cutting up flat materials, we suggest making squares measuring about 3” x 3” (about 8 cm x 8 cm).

Prepare Materials for Paper Stained Glass

Using scissors or a paper cutter, cut tissue paper into small squares and long strips. Watch this video to see how we did it. Watch this video to see how we prepared Press ‘n Seal squares.

Standards

Jump to

Exploration

10 mins

Hands-On Activity

20 mins

Share this lesson

Student link

Google Classroom

Email parents

Slow internet or video problems?
Credits
 
Light Lesson 3: What if there were no windows?

How did the lesson go?
Terrible OK Good Great Terrific!

How can we improve it?

If you'd like our team to reply to you, please Contact Support instead.

Thanks for your feedback! If you have a question or need help, please contact us. Please consider sharing your review:

Sorry the lesson didn't go well. We read every single review in an effort to improve our Mysteries.

Thanks for letting us know. We’ll wait to ask you for feedback until after you've actually taught it.

Thanks for the feedback! We read every single review in an effort to improve our Mysteries.

Is the video not playing properly?

Please follow these steps:

  1. Very rarely a video will fail to completely load in your browser. Try to reload this page to see if that fixes the problem.
  2. If reloading does not help, try our other video player .
  3. If the video still fails to play, open this video in a new tab and please let us know you’re having trouble. We want to fix this issue for you.

This episode is locked

This lesson is not included in your limited access.

View pricing

This episode is locked

Your membership is expired. The archive of past Mini Lessons is not included in your limited access.

View pricing