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...

Data can travel on light waves ... who knew!?! Pupils explore the idea of using light waves to transmit data through space. They then build their own boards that detect a specific wavelength of light.

Break down light into spectra. Scholars learn how atoms emit and absorb photons and come to understand how this process allows scientists to identify different atoms based on either absorption lines or emission lines. Learners then...

Turning white light into colors only takes a little scientific know how! Young scholars create their own spectroscope in a hands-on activity exploring the properties of light. Using a diffraction grating, they discover how white light...

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...

Let the true colors shine through. Pupils conduct a flame test to identify an unknown element. Class members calculate and prepare specific molarity solutions of three chemicals. Using their observations of the colors emitted, they...

Explore the powers of ten while examining a Blue Morpho butterfly wing. Learners discover there is a lot more than meets the eye when one looks close enough.

How does the color of the sky change from blue to reds and oranges to black? An illuminating lesson explains how light travels through different mediums using the sun's light as an example. By examining diagrams and illustrations, pupils...

With a little light and a lot of time, you can create some amazing images. This NASA-related task instructs pupils to build a pinhole camera. The lesson provides suggestions for different pictures to try with the pinhole camera...

The concepts of refraction and reflection gel with your physical science class during this colorful exploration. Shining lasers through Petri-dish-shaped gelatin desserts, they will notice how the light travels and bounces off the sides....

In the last portion of the six-part unit, teams perform an experiment with gold nanoparticles to determine which sport drink has the most electrolytes. The nanoparticles are used as chemical sensors and fluoresce in different wavelengths...

You know how to make new colors by mixing paint or crayons. For example, you get green by mixing yellow and blue, or orange by mixing red and yellow. With paint, blue, yellow, and red are primary colors, which you can use to make other...

In a hands-on way, students explore light's properties of absorption, reflection, transmission and refraction through various experimental stations within the classroom. To understand absorption, reflection and transmission, they shine...

An interactive simulation that teaches about blackbody, sun, light, and quantum mechanics. Students learn my making observations while changing the temperature with a sun, a light bulb, an oven, and the Earth in order to see the changes...

An interactive simulation that teaches about photons, monochromatic light, white light, and rainbows through changing wavelengths, beams, filters, and color combinations. This simulation can either be downloaded or played online and...

Detectable flashes of light are released as wintergreen-flavored candies are crushed in darkness.

Investigate the wavelength properties of visible light and the scattering effects of the earth's atmosphere on different wavelengths.

Students are introduced to different ways of displaying visual spectra, including colored "barcode" spectra, like those produced by a diffraction grating, and line plots displaying intensity versus color, or wavelength. Students learn...

One method of measuring phosphate concentration is by using a Colorimeter. This instrument measures the amount of light transmitted through a sample at a given wavelength.The amount of light absorbed is mathematically related to the...

Illuminate your classroom with this activity on prisms. Also includes additional experiments such as creating a water prism. This resource is in PDF form; requires Adobe Reader.

Students are introduced to the physical concept of the colors of rainbows as light energy in the form of waves with distinct wavelengths, but in a different manner than traditional kaleidoscopes. Looking at different quantum dot...

Student teams conduct an experiment that uses gold nanoparticles as sensors of chemical agents to determine which of four sports drinks has the most electrolytes. In this way, students are introduced to gold nanoparticles and their...