Worksheet
Curated OER

The Color Spectrum

For Students 3rd
What is a color spectrum? Simple, it's comprised of the colors of the rainbow. Have the classs read a passage about the color spectrum and then complete two short answer activities. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Watercolor Rainbows

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
Who doesn't love a rainbow? Little ones adore them, so why not make rainbows the subject of your next art project. Your class can use watercolor to paint rainbows. As they do, have them identify the colors in the rainbow, talk about how...
Lesson Plan
Cornell University

LEDs Rainbow Connection

For Students 6th - 12th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson Plan Outline for Rainbow Science

For Students 7th - 12th Standards
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.
Activity
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Teach Engineering

Quantum Dots and Colors

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
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...
Activity
Exploratorium

The Three Little Pig(ments)

For Teachers 4th - 8th
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...
Interactive
PHET

Color Vision

For Students 6th - 12th Standards
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,...
Lab Resource
Colorado State University

Can You See Beyond the Rainbow?

For Teachers 6th - 12th
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.
Lesson Plan
University of Colorado

Designing an Open Spectrograph

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Take the class over the rainbow. Pairs or small groups follow directions to create a spectrograph. The pupils measure the angles formed by the different colors of the spectrum along with calculating the lengths formed by the spectrum and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sky Show

For Teachers 6th - 8th
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.
Lesson Plan
NASA

What's the Frequency, Roy G. Biv?

For Teachers 6th - 9th Standards
While all light travels at the same speed, each color in the visible light spectrum contains a different wavelength and frequency. Scholars determine the relationship between frequency and wavelength as they complete the activity. They...
Lab Resource
Colorado State University

Why Are Clouds White?

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Is it possible to change the color of clouds? A three-part activity explores the scattering of light by the water droplets that make up clouds. After observing a demonstration, curious scholars conduct their own investigations of the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Planting a Rainbow Bulletin Board

For Teachers K
Students explore a variety of colors and shapes after reading the story, "Planting A Rainbow," by Lois Ehlert. The tracking and reading of labels attached to diagrams form an experience in vocabulary development in this lesson.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Primary and Secondary Colors Mixing Activity

For Teachers K
Students explore color recognition through mixing the primary and secondary colors together. They color in an online rainbow using primary and secondary colors, identify the colors on a color mixing poster, then mix the colors using...
Interactive
PHET

Bending Light

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
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....
Lesson Plan
University of Colorado

Graphing the Rainbow

For Teachers 6th - 8th
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...
PPT
Mr. E. Science

Light

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Is Every Color in the Rainbow?

For Teachers 11th - Higher Ed
Students discuss whether all colors are in the rainbow. In this physics lesson, students defend their ideas and present persuasive arguments to support them.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Light Week

For Teachers 1st
First graders experiment with prisms to explore sequence of colors of light created.
Activity
Discovery Education

Through the Looking Glass

For Teachers 6th - 9th
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...
Interactive3:50
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Scholastic

Study Jams! Light

For Students 3rd - 6th Standards
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

THE MANY COLORS OF SUNLIGHT

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine rainbow components, spectral colors, colors perceived by the eye, hot solids, glowing rarefied gas, absorption, that light is a wave, and optics.
Lesson Plan
Alabama Wildlife Federation

Colors to Dye for!

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Nature provides a rainbow of colors at one's fingertips. A hands-on activity uses natural plant materials to create all-natural dyes. Plants range from fruits and vegetables to flowers and greens. After extracting the pigments, eager...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Magic School Bus Makes a Rainbow

For Teachers K - 2nd
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.