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.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Building a Fancy Spectrograph
Students create and decorate their own spectrographs using simple materials and holographic diffraction gratings. A holographic diffraction grating acts like a prism, showing the visual components of light. After building the...
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.
My Science Site
Optics: Energy and Control [Pdf]
A very comprehensive unit including topics such as light and its source, visible sources of light, transparency of objects and much more. Also offers a resource list, blackline masters, and expectation list, expectation summary and a...
Scholastic
Scholastic Instructor: Sun Sational Science
Discover more about the sun when you visit this educational resource. The content of this site includes solar fun facts, experiments, and activities.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Thirsty for Gold
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...
Science Made Simple
Science Made Simple: Why Is the Sky Blue?
This website has three different projects from which to choose on the topic of why the sky is blue. Also, you can scroll up to learn more about why the sky is blue.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Using Ph Et Simulations in a Large Lecture Class the Photoelectric Effect
This activity provides a complete curriculum for teaching the photoelectric effect using the PhET Photoelectric Effect simulation in a large-lecture modern physics course.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: A Spectral Mystery
Students use the spectrograph from the "Building a Fancy Spectrograph" activity to gather data about light sources. Using their data, they make comparisons between different light sources and make conjectures about the composition of a...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Using a Fancy Spectrograph
Students use the spectrograph from the "Building a Fancy Spectrograph" activity to gather data about different light sources. Using the data, they make comparisons between the light sources and make conjectures about the composition of...
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...
University of California
Center Science Edu.: Electromagnetic Radiation on Trial
Here is a 1-5 day unit on electromagnetic radiation that features a teacher guide and student activities with extensions.
Exploratorium
Exploratorium: Science Snacks: Cd Spectroscope
Analyze light by creating a CD spectroscope in this activity. See the whole spectrum of light with the spectroscope.
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.
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.
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...