The Physics of LASERs: Inquiry Lessons for High School Physics Students

A set of three high school laser lessons were written and piloted in 2010 in celebration of the laser's 50$^{\rm th}$ birthday. These lessons look at properties of lasers, how lasers work, and applications of lasers. All or part of these lessons can easily be incorporated into discussions of electromagnetic radiation, the structure of an atom, quantized energy levels, and how atoms interact with radiation. They may also be modified and used in a middle school physical science class, to enforce current standards and introduce modern physics standards. How to incorporate these lessons with national science standards and how to modify them will be discussed.