Last week we talked about the role of pollinators and their importance to plants- now we’ll take a look at how one group of pollinators, bees, sees the world across the spectrum. You can even make your own UV light to help you see what they see!

This week’s Distance Learning offerings are focusing on optics, light, and the electromagnetic spectrum.

It took scientists a really long time to calculate the speed of light—up until 1676 when Danish astronomer Ole Rømer provided the first calculation, scientists weren’t even sure if the speed of light was a finite number. But a few hundred years later, we can calculate the speed of light using not much more than a microwave oven, a bar of chocolate, and a ruler. Let’s try it for ourselves!

This week’s Distance Learning theme is optics, light, and the electromagnetic spectrum. In this activity, you will learn how water seems to bend light by taking the shortest path through water. First we will learn a little bit more about how light does this, and then we will test it out on our own!

This week’s Distance Learning theme is optics, light, and the electromagnetic spectrum. In this module, geared toward middle school-level learners, we learn more about spectroscopy—the study of how matter interacts with electromagnetic radiation—and how astronomers apply this science to better understand the composition of our universe.

This week’s Distance Learning offerings are focusing on optics, light, and the electromagnetic spectrum.

Join one of our museum educators as she reads the Scholastic children’s book COLOR, by Kay Manolis!

This week’s Distance Learning theme is optics, light, and the electromagnetic spectrum. Today we show you how to split sunlight into all the beautiful colors of the spectrum, with a simple homemade spectroscope! This activity takes just a few minutes, and utilizes common household items. Adult supervision is required—we’ll be cutting cardboard with a craft knife.

This week we’re diving into wavelengths as we focus on optics and spectra. Let’s start off with something that you may have wondered about, the color of the sky. You might think it has something to do with our atmosphere, and you’d be right- it’s a result of of the interaction between our atmosphere and the light from the Sun. But how does it work?

We’ve all witnessed the reflection of light. Looking at ourselves in the mirror, seeing sunlight bounce off a pool of water, observing the moon—all of these occur because light is reflecting off of a surface. Light always reflects in the same way, following the Law of Reflection. Basically, the law of reflection says that when light hits a flat mirror, it will reflect at the same angle that it hits the mirror. We can use this law to manipulate light to make beautiful images inside a kaleidoscope! Let’s use some recycled material to make our own kaleidoscopes.