Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Color of Salts Flame Test
This laboratory exercise is designed to introduce students to salts and their unique color given off while burned. Students will obtain several salt solutions to observe the color of flame when burned.
University of Colorado
University of Colorado: Physics 2000: Quantum Atom
Several pages with an interesting discussion of the visible light spectrum and atomic absorption and emission line spectrum. Features excellent graphics, thorough and understandable discussion, and many interactive Java applets.
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 activity and accompanying slideshow can both be downloaded.
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Project Ideas: How Primary Colors Combine to Make New Colors
In this science fair project, paint color pie slices onto a wheel and spin the wheel on an electric drill. See how colors add together to make new colors. The Science Buddies project ideas are set up consistently beginning with an...
Physics Classroom
The Physics Classroom: The Electromagnetic and Visible Spectra
A tutorial on the electromagnetic and visible spectra. Discusses dispersion and how perceptions of white and black are related to the visible light spectrum.
Physics Classroom
The Physics Classroom: Light Absorption, Reflection and Transmission
This tutorial explains light absorption, reflection and transmission in a clear and concise manner. Provides a "Check Your Understanding" section as well as additional links on color and light.
South Carolina Educational Television
Etv: Nasa Online: Light: Scattering Light
An introduction to the concept of the visible light spectrum provided in an animated format.
Georgia State University
Georgia State University: Hyper Physics: Characterizing Color
This site from Georgia State University discusses the meaning of the terms hue, saturation and brightness. Thorough, meaningful explanations and outstanding graphics.
Physics Classroom
The Physics Classroom: Light Waves/color: Electromagnetic and Visible Spectra
This illustrated physics tutorial explains the electromagnetic and visible spectra of light using illustrated examples and interactive practice problems.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Learning Light's Properties
Students learn the basic properties of light--the concepts of light absorption, transmission, reflection and refraction, as well as the behavior of light during interference. Lecture information briefly addresses the electromagnetic...
Science Struck
Science Struck: Wavelength of Visible Light Spectrum
Explains where visible light fits into the electromagnetic spectrum and the wavelengths for the different colors we see.
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Plix: Color: Light in a Prism
[Free Registration/Login Required] Explore how light is refracted when visible light enters, passes through, and exits the prism by moving the red dot to adjust the angle of white light shining on the prism.
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.
University of Colorado
University of Colorado: Physics 2000: Temperature and Absolute Zero
A thorough, multipage discussion of color and color television sets that explains how an image is formed on the television using red, green, and blue light. Understandable discussion, excellent graphics, and many interactive Java applets.
Physics Central
Physics Central: Physics in the Snow: Snowy Colors
A simple experiment through which students observe the connection between color and heat and prove that dark-colored objects and light-colored objects heat at different rates, even when exposed to the same heat or light source.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Designing a Spectroscopy Mission
Students find and calculate the angle that light is transmitted through a holographic diffraction grating using trigonometry. After finding this angle, student teams design and build their own spectrographs, researching and designing a...
Physics Classroom
The Physics Classroom: Light Waves and Color: Blue Skies and Red Sunsets
Students will focus on the interaction of sunlight with atmospheric particles to produce blue skies and red sunsets.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Bubbles and Biosensors
Students learn that color swirls on the bubble surfaces are caused by refraction. Then they apply this theory to thin films in general, including porous films used in biosensors, listing factors that could change the color that become...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: All That Glitters
This Ocean Explorer lesson plan (PDF) explores the questions: What colors, if any, are visible down in the deep sea? What is bioluminescence? Young scholars will learn about white light (visible light), the quantity and quality of light...
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...
Georgia State University
Georgia State University: Hyper Physics: Scattering Concepts
A collection of several pages explaining the principles which underlie Rayleigh scattering of light.
Curated OER
Georgia State University: Color
This site from Georgia State University discusses the location of visible light on the electromagnetic spectrum. Includes the wavelength values for various colors of light within the visible light spectrum.
Curated OER
Georgia State University: Color
This site from Georgia State University discusses the location of visible light on the electromagnetic spectrum. Includes the wavelength values for various colors of light within the visible light spectrum.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Graphing the Rainbow
Students are introduced to different ways of displaying visual spectra, including colored "barcode" spectra, like those produced by a diffraction grating, and line plots displaying intensity versus color, or wavelength. Students learn...