Light and colour with Science in a Van

This collection has been created to support Science in a Van with a Hive Mind session about light and colour.

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However, it is useful for anyone teaching about light and colour.

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There are notes with science concepts, contexts for learning about light and colour and some simple hands-on activities that you can try in the classroom.

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Building Science Concepts Book 10 Light and Colour

Building Science Concepts Book 11: Seeing Colours: The Spectrum, the Eye, and the Brain

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The big ideas in these Ministry of Education resources show how a fully developed understanding of the concept might look like. The bullet points show how ideas might build in sequence.

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The notes that follow cover each of the big ideas in books 10 and 11 along with resources that provide background information and/or student activities.

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However, it's a good idea to find out what students already know . . .

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You can watch Alan via this YouTube link. It includes a short, sharp explanation of why we see colours in bubbles and why colours change during the bubble's brief existence.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlSFBcVm6DE

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Watch Emily and Alan in this video for a more in depth explanation of light, shadows and bubbles, and how to make a home-made kaleidoscope using cardboard tubes.

https://www.youtube.com/live/nuGL-wC7f8Y?si=n8zw4d9R876X29zN&t=168

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Eliciting prior knowledge and possible alternative conceptions

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The following resources provide helpful information about common alternative conceptions that students (and adults) may hold. Awareness helps educators identify them when they surface in discussions and provides an opportunity to scaffold change.

Big idea: Light is a form of energy that can be obtained by various energy conversions.

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• Light comes from definite sources, such as the Sun or electric light bulbs.
• The Sun and plain electric light bulbs are sources of the full spectrum of visible light.
• Coloured light can be produced by selectively blocking some parts of the spectrum.
• Some light sources produce light of different colours (for example, lasers, glow-worms, sodium lights,

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Using images to start a discussion

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The following images show objects that produce light.

• What are the names of these objects?
• Are they natural sources of light or light produced by humans?
• What colour(s) of light do they produce?

Big idea: We can see colours when different materials reflect different mixes of wavelengths of light.

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• At night, when there is very little light, everything looks black.
• What appears to be 'white' light can be split into the pattern of colours visible in a spectrum or rainbow.
• Surfaces and materials can transmit, reflect, or absorb light: some can do two or all of these things.
• Surfaces that reflect a lot of light are very light coloured or shiny: surfaces that absorb a lot of light are very dark coloured or dull.
• The colours of objects come from their reflection and absorption of different parts of the spectrum of colours in light.

Use images to start a discussion

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• Why does everything look black at night?
• Why do things look black in caves or in the closet with the door closed?
• In the photo of the empty road, which surfaces absorb a lot of light?
• Which surfaces reflect a lot of light?
• What happens when white light is shone through a prism?
• Why does the shirt look red and the shorts blue?
• What colours are reflected by the clothing you are wearing?

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Big idea: We see when light reflects off objects, enters our eyes, is converted to electrical energy at the retina, and is then interpreted as 'vision' by the brain.

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• When there is no light, we can't see anything.
• We 'see' when sufficient light is reflected off sufarces and enters the eye.
• Our brain interprets what our eyes 'see'.
• We see colours when the eye's retina sends 'messages' to the brain.

Use images to start a discussion:

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• How does fog stop us from seeing things clearly?
• What other things might stop us from seeing clearly?
• What do you observe when you look at the image of the human eye?
• Are there parts of the eye that you cannot observe?
• Can you match up parts of the eye with the diagram?
• What's happening in the image 'How lenses magnify'? What is the eye doing to see? How does the extra lens create a magnified version?

Activities

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Get hands on with light, sight and colour.