Zoe and RJ are trying to photograph an egret on a lake, but they are having trouble with the lighting. Reflection, refraction, and absorption are explored through their thoughtful dialogue so that your physical scientists are illuminated...

This is a stellar overview of everything light and quantum! There are 30 multiple choice questions, none of them requiring any mathematical computation. There are a few diagrams to analyze: light rays striking reflective and refractive...

Take a real close look at your phone screen. What do you see? Here's an activity that provides guidance on how to look at a smart phone screen in order to see the pixels and to see how the phone creates colors and motion on the...

Create models of the infrared, visible, and ultraviolet portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Working in small groups, your class can investigate metric conversions calculations. They will find the length of the waves in nanometers,...

Students examine the spectra of light sources that have similar colors.  For this light lesson students complete an activity using various lights in the classroom and discuss the colors and the heat generated. 

When your life science class is learning about the eye and how it works, you can add this activity as a demonstration of how the retina holds an afterimage. After staring at a red, green, or blue bird shape, pupils glance at a cage and...

Add a splash of color to your chemistry class! Science scholars discover the principles behind color through a wide variety of hands-on activities. Lessons include dyes, chromatography, and flame tests.

Young scientists observe the spectra of elements and compare that to the Doppler effect. Hook scholars from the beginning all the way to the extension activities in this 5E-format lesson. 

In this types of stars activity, students complete a table with the color and star type for 17 stars. They are given their luminosity and surface temperature along with a chart that has characteristics of stars to use as reference.

Heat-sensitive liquid crystal sheets are available in a variety of sizes and temperature ranges. Purchase a class set of hand-held sheets and color half of each with a silver permanent marking pen. Learners of light can hold them under a...

How can a hand puppet's shadow look like a dog? The lesson explains the science behind shadows, combining paint colors and the colors used in old televisions. Scholars use white, red, blue, and green lights to experiment with colors...

Second graders make spinning color wheels to determine how energy effects what colors look like. They paint or color a color wheel with the seven colors of the spectrum. Next, the spin the wheel to determine what happens. In order to...

The fascinating topic of human skin color is examined in this article from Muse magazine. It highlights a study done by a pair of scientists on the relationships among strength of sunlight, vitamins, and melanin in the skin. The results...

Light intensity varies by the strength of the light bulb as well as the distance to the light bulb. Pupils apply these concepts independently at first. They must solve for the light intensity as either the distance or the wattage of the...

In this color worksheet, high schoolers read about light, prisms, the RGB model and the CMYK model. Students match colors with their definition, they draw the color chart, they apply the RGB and CMYK models to make colors and they...

Students study the color of stars. In this astronomy based lesson, students observe the colors in an open flame and apply the information collected about color and temperature to the visible light emitting from the photosphere of various...

Build a spectrometer to analyze properties of light. Scholars examine the spectrum from CDs and DVDs from two different light sources. Using the spectrum, they work to identify different elements.

Can you eyes be fooled into seeing colors that aren't actually there? Budding scientists view a presentation that addresses this topic. They explore how their eyes interpret color through the retinas and messages sent to the brain. They...

Here is a stellar slide show for illuminating middle schoolers' minds on the topic of light! An interactive slide allows viewers to sort light sources by whether or not they are man-made. More objects are displayed and learners discover...

Students create a painting that clearly exemplifies the use of primary pigments to make secondary pigments. They demonstrate the distinction between value and saturation. They explain the affect of adjacent colors on each other and...

Students examine bioluminescence and camouflage of deep sea creatures. For this deep sea creatures lesson, students investigate the visible and near-visible light spectrum. They work in small groups to complete a light, color, and...

Third graders discovver what causes the dramatic colors of a sunset by seeing the changing color of light as it passes through a clear container of water to which milk is gradually added. They measure the liquids and observe what happens...

Third graders experience optic illusions by creating flipbooks. In this optics lesson, 3rd graders view a demonstration of the workings of rods and cones using a camera. They are shown an optical illusion and work to create their own...

A few definitions related to waves open this slide show. Note that the information only covers light waves even though the title mentions sound. Correct the title before using this resource. Another mention is a set of photos of a class...