Light Energy: Teaching Translucent, Transparent, Opaque

This week we continue our exploration of energy by studying light. Our vocabulary includes Translucent, Transparent, and Opaque. These words are completely new to many of my 5th grade Scientists.  To help remember them, we use these mind links:

Translucent: Many of my scientists know that the Spanish word for light is "luz", so we remember that a trans"luz"ent object lets the light in.

Tranparent:  We remember that parents want to see EVERYTHING. They ALWAYS want to know what is going on. A transPARENT object lets everything be seen!

Opaque: We visualize that if we have a huge cake, one as tall and as wide as our classroom, we would not be able to see anything on the other side of the cake. THE CAKE IS OPAQUE. It doesn't let us see anything through it.