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Year 8

A pinhole camera

I can explain how light passes through a pinhole to produce an image in a pinhole camera.

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New
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Year 8

A pinhole camera

I can explain how light passes through a pinhole to produce an image in a pinhole camera.

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Share activities with pupils
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These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. A pinhole camera is an empty, closed box with a tiny hole on the front face and a screen on the back face.
  2. Light moves in straight lines from a light source, through the pinhole, to the screen at the back of a pinhole camera.
  3. Light from each different point on the object falls on a different single point on the screen, forming the image.
  4. The image produced by a pinhole camera is dim and inverted. Adding more holes produces multiple images.
  5. Making the hole larger makes the image brighter but blurred. More light passes through the hole in more directions.

Keywords

  • Camera - A device that produces an image from light that enters it.

  • Image - A representation of an object.

  • Pinhole camera - An empty, closed box with a tiny hole on the front face and a screen on the back face.

  • Translucent - Describes a material that lets some light through, but through which objects cannot be seen clearly.

  • Inverted - Describes an image that is upside down.

Common misconception

Light from a lamp moves in parallel rays in a preferred direction towards the observer.

Overtly discuss the direction light rays move from a lamp by considering where light from a lamp can be seen from.


To help you plan your year 8 science lesson on: A pinhole camera, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

This investigation is speeded up if pre-constructed pinhole cameras are used to observe images formed by a pinhole camera, which gives more time to focus on thinking about how the images are formed.
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Teacher tip
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Equipment

Pinhole camera, large pin, carbon filament lamp or similar to provide a bright distinct image.

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Content guidance

  • Risk assessment required - equipment
supervision-level

Supervision

Adult supervision required

copyright

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which of the following is a definition of a translucent material?
It lets no light through.
It lets light through and you can see clearly through it.
It lets light through and changes the colour of the light.
Correct answer: It lets some light through, but you cannot see clearly through it.
Q2.
Which of the following describes a luminous object?
Correct answer: an object that emits light
an object that scatters light
an object that absorbs light
an object that reflects light the way a mirror does
Q3.
In diagrams, we can draw arrows to show the direction light travels, and where the light travels from and to. What are these arrows called?
laser beams
light arrows
light beams
Correct answer: light rays
Q4.
Which of the following is a definition of the word ‘image’?
a real object
an imaginary object
Correct answer: a representation of a real object
a representation of an imaginary object
Q5.
Which of the following statements is always necessary for you to be able to see an object?
The object must be luminous.
Light from the surroundings must hit the object.
Light coming from your eyes must enter the object.
Correct answer: Light coming from the object must enter your eyes.
Q6.
Which of the following statements explains why it is easier to see a dim lamp outdoors at night than in the day?
The lamp’s light and the daylight cancel each other out.
The lamp produces more light when its surroundings are dark.
Correct answer: There is more contrast between the lamp and its surroundings at night.
More of the lamp’s light is absorbed by the surroundings during the day.

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which of the following key terms means ‘turned upside–down’?
converted
diverted
Correct answer: inverted
reverted
Q2.
A ball moves through the air in daylight. The ball is not shiny and it is not black. Which of the following statements is correct?
Every point on the ball’s surface emits light.
Correct answer: Every point on the ball’s surface reflects light.
Light from each point on the ball’s surface travels straight outwards.
Correct answer: Light from each point on the ball’s surface travels in many directions.
Q3.
Which of the following are needed for a pinhole camera to show a clear image?
a lens
Correct answer: a translucent screen at the back of the camera
a translucent screen at the front of the camera
Correct answer: an object to look at that is very bright
an object to look at that may or may not be very bright
Q4.
A pupil makes a pinhole camera and uses it to make an image of a bulb. Then the pupil makes the pinhole larger. In which of the following ways does this change the image?
it gets larger
it gets smaller
it becomes clearer
Correct answer: it becomes more blurred
Q5.
A pinhole camera makes an image of a filament bulb. Which of the following changes will make the image smaller?
moving the camera closer to the bulb
Correct answer: moving the camera further from the bulb
using a longer box for the pinhole camera
Correct answer: using a shorter box for the pinhole camera
Q6.
A pupil holds up a pinhole camera at a short distance from a filament bulb that is switched on. Which of the following statements explains why an image of the bulb appears on the screen?
An image of the bulb fits through the pinhole and lands on the screen.
The pinhole changes the directions of rays so that they make an image.
Each point on the screen is hit by light from every point on the bulb.
Correct answer: Each point on the screen is hit by light from only one point on the bulb.

Additional material

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