  Light Polarization has many technological applications and its discovery was
crucial to reveal the transverse nature of the electromagnetic waves. However,
despite its fundamental and practical importance, in high school this property
of light is often neglected. This is a pity not only for its conceptual
relevance, but also because polarization gives the possibility to perform many
beautiful experiments with low cost materials. Moreover, the treatment of this
matter lends very well to an interdisciplinary approach, between art, biology
and technology, which usually makes things more interesting to students. For
these reasons we have developed a laboratory on light polarization for high
school and undergraduate students. They can see beautiful pictures when
birefringent materials are set between two crossed polarizing filters. The
colourful images remind them of those ones of abstract painting or alien
landscapes. With this multidisciplinary teaching method students are more
engaged and participative and also the learning process of the respective
physics concepts is more effective.
