Middle schoolers are introduced to the electromagnetic spectrum, focusing on visible light. They are introduced to the idea that all light travels as waves, and that wavelength defines the various regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Here is a physical science activity where pupils place thermometers inside of a white and a black paper pocket and place them under a lamp. They record and compare the temperature increase over a ten-minute period. Have your class...

Students explore the properties of light. In this light lesson, students investigate visible light by viewing a website, examining an electromagnetic spectrum chart, and observing light demonstrations. Students write about their...

Students explore the relevance and importance of data collection and analysis techniques that use different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. They observe the basic concepts of the visible electromagnetic spectrum and the...

Class members engage in a STEM experiment and investigate how materials affect heating in a house by creating models of houses and using different top surface materials. They record the temperature inside the models and consider what the...

Students examine rainbow components, spectral colors, colors perceived by the eye, hot solids, glowing rarefied gas, absorption, that light is a wave, and optics.

Students participate in a lesson that looks at the potential for energy from sunlight. Students conduct research from a variety of resources and construct an object that is used to measure the energy of sunlight and calculate the amounts...

Using spectroscopes, high school astronomy, physics, or chemistry learners observe emission spectra from several different sources. This stellar NASA-produced lesson plan provides terrific teacher's notes and a student handout. Make sure...

Young scholars work with a real optical spectrum of a gamma ray burst afterglow taken at the Keck Observatory. They measure the shifts of spectral lines, deduce the velocity of the astronomical object, and then use Hubble's Law to get...

Students analyze the optical region of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Fifth graders conclude that each color of the spectrum has a different amount of thermal energy by measuring temperature with a thermometer. They infer that there is an invisible band of the spectrum by measuring temperature beyond the...

Bioluminescence fascinates most upper elementary scientists. Display images of different glowing deep-sea organisms and discuss their environment. Young biologists then experiment with images and different colors of filtered light. In...

Students consider the amount of time that it would take to get to the star, Sirius using various modes of transportation, some practical and some whimsical. The practicality of physically going to another star system is explored in this...

All you need is light. Groups use a reflectometer to find the reflectivity of specific chemical compounds. Learners compare the graphs of the reflectivity of the known compounds to Martian soil. Using the graph comparisons, scholars...

Jell-O® can help model the transmission of light through fiber optic cables. Young scientists use the jiggly dessert to make a waveguide to transmit a laser beam from one point to another. Their models help them learn the function...

Science is magic that works. Magical color-changing beads and a coffee can that follows voice commands are just two examples of magic tricks that rely on science. After completing a hands-on activity and an experiment investigating the...

Students explore the nature of light. They use on-line articles and a worksheet to explore the roles of the eye and brain in the perception of color. They draw and label a diagram illustrating the movement of light.

Seventh graders describe and conduct an experiment that identifies the physical properties of light. They explore sources of visible light and an electromagnetic spectrum. Students explain the conversion of one form of energy to another.

Pupils examine how the regions of the Sun are studied using spectroscopy. They investigate the electromagnetic spectrum and the types of radiation that are associated with it. They use prisms and CD's to examine the light spectrum. They...

Learners explore a web-based illustrated text and interactive graphics to determine the relationship between the operation of telescopes and light. optics. They work in small groups to become an expert on one of the ten eras of telescope...

Students perform an experiment in which they will use a statistical method called `sampling' to count to a billion (and beyond). Students practice sampling by estimating the number of characters on a page from the classified section of a...

Students observe and explore the characteristics of light.

Students study visible light and explain why we want to use infrared radiation to study Mercury.  In this sunlight lesson students construct a device to measure the presence of infrared radiation in sunlight. 

Explore the behavior of light waves with a lab activity. Scholars build new vocabulary through experimentation and observation. Using different mediums, they model reflection, refraction, transmission, diffusion, and scattering of light.