Exploring the Science of Light ─ 30+ Illuminating Experiments & Colorful Science Activities

Ever look at the sky and wonder what makes it so blue? Or watch shadows shrink and grow as the day goes on? Find out the answers to these questions (plus 38 more!) with a book that explores color and light.

Light is all around us—it makes our planet green, grows our food, and allows us to see what’s going on. But it’s also mysterious: White light is actually made up of tons of colors, and there are even colors that we humans can’t see! The Exploratorium’s Color and Light Science offers oodles of fun, dynamic, and mind-blowing activities that help kids begin to understand the physics of light—all presented in a gorgeous, hands-on way that’s a far cry from your old middle school science book.

Readers experiment with:

DIY Rainbows
Go on a Light Walk
Colored Shadows
The Green Flash
Pinhole Camera
Cyanotypes
DIY Periscope
Lightpainting
Color Underwater
Photosynthesis Exploration

Plus, breakout spreads for every color in the spectrum teach kids about what makes the stuff all around them the color that it is—from hues that occur naturally to dyes we manufacture, from shades that we see every day to some that our eyes can’t even detect!

Internationally acclaimed as the first hands-on science museum of its kind, the Exploratorium is home to more than 475 interactive exhibits, all of which create an otherworldly and awe-inspiring experience of everyday physical forces. More than half a million people visit the museum annually, and several hundred thousand more interact with exhibits sent abroad. The Exploratorium was awarded National Science Board 2011 Public Service Science Award for its continued good works in heightening awareness of the intersection of art and science, and it has trained more than 6,000 teachers in learning through hands-on interaction.