Exploratorium
Bridge Light
An illuminating activity demonstrates how interference of light waves creates a pattern. Using Plexiglas™ and construction paper, participants see rainbows appear as they twist or press against the plastic plates. After the activity, you...
Curated OER
Light Week
First graders experiment with prisms to explore sequence of colors of light created.
Curated OER
Lesson Plan Outline for Rainbow Science
Young scientists study light reflection and refraction as they determine the critical angle, the rainbow angle, and color separation in rainbows. Teams record the data they collect in a shared spreadsheet and discuss results with the class.
Curated OER
Color at Light Speed
Rainbow science anyone? learners put the color specturm, frequency, light waves, and wavelengths into a light speed context. They use algebraic formulas to determine the speed of each light wave length. A great way to connect math and...
PHET
Bending Light
Different colors of the spectrum travel at different speeds through media, causing them to refract at different angles—which allows humans to see their colors. Through a simulation, pupils see how air, water, and other media bend light....
Curated OER
Light
Here is a stellar slide show for illuminating middle schoolers' minds on the topic of light! An interactive slide allows viewers to sort light sources by whether or not they are man-made. More objects are displayed and learners discover...
Scholastic
Study Jams! Light
Let there be light in your classroom with a video that explains that light travels in waves, the electromagnetic spectrum contains seven colors, and the color of an object depends on which light waves it reflects and absorbs. With...
Teach Engineering
Quantum Dots and Colors
Introduce teams to quantum dot solutions with an activity that has them expose solutions to a blacklight, observe the colors, and take measurements. Groups graph the data and analyze the dependence between particle size and color...
Colorado State University
What Is Beyond the Rainbow?
Help your classes see what they cannot see. Using different eyewear, scholars experience different light spectrums. Learners may be surprised by how the world looks with infrared light, thermal imaging, and ultraviolet light.
Colorado State University
Can You See Beyond the Rainbow?
There's more to light than ROYGBIV! An enlightening laboratory investigation has learners explore the world of infrared light. When they use goggles that take away visible light, they experience how things look with only infrared light.
Cornell University
LEDs Rainbow Connection
View LED lights through the eyes of a scientist. Young scholars learn to view light as a wave frequency and connect various frequencies to different colors on the light spectrum. A lab activity asks groups to measure the frequency of...
Multiverse
Rainbows of Light: The Visible Light Spectrum
Rainbows can teach us about the visible light spectrum. Learners observe multiple items that clearly display a rainbow to develop better connections. The lesson then explains wavelength using a rope to make waves.
Curated OER
The Magic School Bus Makes a Rainbow
Students learn along with Ms. Frizzle's class. In this Magic School Bus lesson plan, students spin separate colors into a new color just as the Magic School Bus kids did.
Curated OER
Sky Show
Students participate in a discussion of the sky and colors. They watch a demonstration of how colors can change. They examine the issue of if weather should be a part of their coursework.
Exploratorium
The Three Little Pig(ments)
Photocopy single-color images onto acetate transparencies and either demonstrate or have your class experience the combination of colors to produce images. Children will learn that cyan, magenta, yellow, and black combine to make all of...
PHET
Color Vision
Humans can only see visible light, but some insects can see ultraviolet light. Through a simulation, pupils explore how we see colors using one bulb. It moves on to demonstrate how we see colors by mixing three different bulbs (red,...
Curated OER
Light
In this light worksheet, students read what makes light, the speed of light, and the electromagnetic spectrum. Students complete 12 matching, 8 fill in the blank, and 9 word problems.
Curated OER
Light
In this light worksheet, students match 12 terms related to light and the electromagnetic spectrum to their definitions, they order waves by their speed, they analyze the energy and wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum and they...
Curated OER
The Components of Light
Learners are given a mnemonic device to review the light spectrum as it relates to the different components of refracted light. For this components of light lesson, students read Light Magic and review the properties of light. Learners...
Curated OER
Light Lab
For this light and the eye worksheet, students perform eight tests to show the blind spot in the human eye, to demonstrate Benham's disk, to show how polarized lenses work, to show how light scatters, to demonstrate fiber optic,...
Curated OER
Color, Light, and Excited Electrons
Investigate color, light and excited electrons and produce waves using slinkys. Your high schoolers will observe a continuous spectrum with a prism and an overhead projector. They observe flame tests to identify elements and they observe...
Mr. E. Science
Light
Where does bad light end up? In a prism! The presentation covers light, mirrors, lenses, and the structure of the eye. It also provides explanations of reflection, refraction, concave and convex mirrors and lenses, and a comparison of...
University of Colorado
Graphing the Rainbow
Here's a colorful resource about spectra. An intriguing lesson teaches pupils about diffraction grating and about absorption and emission spectra. They see how to represent spectra using line plots and try out this skill in a matching...
Curated OER
Color
Young scholars study the elements of color in paint and light. In this color science lesson, students discuss colors in their world, white light, and rainbows. Young scholars mix three primary paint colors to make various secondary...