Making Sense of Color | Great Basin Observatory

Description:

White light has the rainbow hidden within it, but so does black. Understand why with this hands on activity.

Time:

5 minutes prep time, 10 minutes class time for activity, more with Lab sheet

Grade Level:

1, 2, 3, 4

Next Generation Science Standards:

1-PS4-3

Plan and conduct an investigation to determine the effect of placing objects made with different materials in the path light.

4-PS4-1

Develop a model of waves to describe patterns in terms of amplitude and wavelength.

Materials

White basket-style coffee filters
Paperclips
Ruler
Water
Clear plastic cup
Science notebook or lab sheet
Black felt tip pen or marker (not permanent). Pilot Razor Point or other water based markers work well.
Other water based colors to experiment with
Editable Lab Sheet (if using)

Notes

You may want to introduce your class to color and light with the Bill Nye Light and Color video.

GBO suggestion - Do this activity as a station in a rotation with several other light investigation activities.

Suggested activities to create stations are:

How does light work? Angles of Reflection
How does light work? Making a Water Prism

We suggest testing your markers before doing this with your students.

Directions
Follow directions for “Black is Black - Or is it?” activity sheet below.

Attachment	Size
GBO printable	224.21 KB
"Black is Black- Or is it?" Activity	208.49 KB
Editable Lab Sheet	18.25 KB

Bill Nye the Science Guy on Light and Color

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