Ray Diagrams & Images
Your child can draw rays to find where an image forms. In a mirror, your reflection seems to sit behind the glass. They can say if an image is real or just appears there.
In curriculum terms
Construct ray diagrams to show the formation of images by plane mirrors and converging lenses, identifying whether images are real or virtual, magnified or diminished, upright or inverted
Ages are typical, not deadlines — follow your child’s pace. How to help at home →
How to tell they’ve got it
Tick these off as you see them — no test required.
🖨 Print this page to keep the checklist — it prints beautifully.
Try this together
If your child was asked to show on a diagram where their reflection appears to be when they look in a mirror, could they draw the correct ray paths and explain whether the image is real or virtual — and where it actually appears to be located?
Where this sits on the map
Stuck here? Check the skills it builds on first. Confident? Here’s what it unlocks.
solid = must come firstdashed = helps
Curriculum alignment
Where this fits in the official school curriculum — our best automated guess, not yet checked by a person.
This skill sits beyond Year 6 in the Australian Curriculum, so no F–6 code is matched. It also sits beyond the NSW K–6 syllabuses. It also sits beyond Level 6 in the Victorian Curriculum.