NumberNut
Number Nut: Basic Topics: Shapes, Symbols, and Colors: Colors
A short explanation of how we see color and what each of the primary and secondary colors symbolize.
NASA
Nasa: The Space Place: Why Is the Sky Blue?
Learn about colors of light by exploring how prisms work. Discover the different colors of the spectrum and how the visible light is what we see.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Waves: The Three Color Mystery
Students are presented with a challenge question concerning color blindness and asked to use engineering principles to design devices to help people who are color blind. Using the legacy cycle as a model, this unit is comprised of five...
Math Science Nucleus
Math/science Nucleus: Light Magic
This animation discusses light and the properties of light in a storybook format. The animations cover the colors of the rainbow (ROYGBIV) along with prisms, light waves, reflection, and refraction.
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12 Exploration Series: Simulations: Physics: Light Wave
[Free Registration/Login Required] Are there colors we don't see? This simulation addresses that question by exploring light as an electromagnetic wave. Learn how the electromagnetic wave relates its wavelength and frequency to the...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: The Energy of Light
In this introduction to light energy, students learn about reflection and refraction as they learn that light travels in wave form. Through hands-on activities, they see how prisms, magnifying glasses and polarized lenses work. They also...
BioEd Online
Bio Ed Online: Rainbow in the Room
Students investigate the properties of visible light and the sequence of colors in the spectrum using light shone through water and prisms. The lesson plan and accompanying slideshow can both be downloaded.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Rgb to Hex Conversion
Students practice converting between RGB and hexadecimal (hex) formats. They learn about mixing primary colors in order to get the full spectrum of colors and how to average pixel values.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Waves Go Public!
Students apply everything they have learned over the course of the associated lessons about waves, light properties, the electromagnetic spectrum, and the structure of the eye, by designing devices that can aid color blind people in...
Science4Fun
Science4 Fun: Light
What is light? Illustrated discussion of the speed of light, how we see colors, and how light helps us.
Optical Society
Optical Society of America: Optics for Kids: Release the Rainbow
A simple activity to demonstrate how light separates into colors when it passes through water acting as a prism.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Mn Step: Why Is the Sky Blue?
Young scholars will learn about refraction and the scattering of sunlight as it enters the atmosphere, which causes the colors in light to separate, giving us blue skies and colorful sunrises and sunsets.
York University
York University: Color and Color Vision
York University provides an index page to several other pages on the topic of color and color vision. The pages are part of an online "book." Many graphics and explanations.
Utah Education Network
Uen: Enlightening Explorations, Part Iii
This activity contains the following labs: Rainbows, Refraction with Prisms, and What Color Is It? Students will study light by reading various nonfiction texts and viewing a video activity. Then students will engage in the following...
Science Struck
Science Struck: Visible Color Spectrum Wheel
A brief explanation of the visible color wheel.
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: What Is Color?
Colm Kelleher describes the physics behind colors- why the colors we see are related to the period of motion and the frequency of waves. [3:09]
Center of Science and Industry
Cosi Columbus: Coffee Filter Rainbows
Science experiment that demonstrates chromotography. Includes full list of materials, procedures, and scientific explanation of what happens with different colors when they are soaked with water.
Exploratorium
Exploratorium: How to Build a Spectroscope
Instructions for how to construct a spectroscope from basic materials, which can be used to study colors produced by light from different sources. Adult supervision may be required for the use of the utility knife. Includes an...
Other
Sky Server: Color
SkyServer answers why stars have different colors and shows what you can learn by studying the colors of stars, galaxies, and other objects.
Exploratorium
Exploratorium: Black Magic
A great and easy-to-do activity where students separate the colors in a black marker and develop an understanding that black is a composite of other colors.
Optical Society
Optical Society of America: Optics for Kids: What Causes Rainbows?
An experiment to demonstrate how to make a rainbow and why they form.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Understanding Spectra
This is an 8-problem quiz/practice to increase students' understanding of spectra. Color is a property of light. Test your understanding of this concept and how light can be represented in with a spectral power distribution.