35

Lesson 35 of 84 ยท Engineering and Design

Lessonโญ 30 XP๐Ÿ› ๏ธ Engineer Shop

Light and the Color Spectrum (Part 2)

๐ŸงชLab Brief #35

Engineering and Design.

๐ŸŽฏ Your mission

Learn the rule. Then catch nature using it.

โšก The twist

Constraints make you more creative, not less.

๐Ÿคฏ

Mind = Blown

๐ŸŒ‰ The Eiffel Tower can grow 6 inches taller in summer because metal expands when hot.

๐Ÿ”ฎ

Make a hypothesis first

Before you test: how many tries until it works?

What You'll Learn

Light behaves as both a wave and a particle. White light can be separated into a spectrum of colors using a prism. Each color has a different wavelength.

Key Words

  • prototype
  • design
  • constraint

Steps

Step 1 โ€” Read

Read the introduction and identify the main idea of this lesson.

Step 2 โ€” Do

Create a solar oven from a pizza box lined with foil. Measure the temperature inside on a sunny day. Try melting chocolate or cheese.

Step 3 โ€” Observe

Compare the before and after states.

Step 4 โ€” Record

Write your conclusion: did the results match your hypothesis? What would you change next time?

Check Your Understanding

Question 1

1 of 3

What is amplitude?

๐ŸŒ

Where you see this in real life

Every bridge, building, and gadget you've ever used started with this.

๐Ÿ†

Stretch Challenge

Try this in real life this week.

Find something that's broken at home and try to figure out *why* it broke.

๐Ÿ‘จโ€๐Ÿ‘ฉโ€๐Ÿ‘ง

For the dinner table

โ€œWhat's something around the house you'd redesign โ€” and how?โ€

๐ŸŽฏ

Next Smart Experiment

We'll pick an experiment that matches exactly how you're thinking right now.

๐ŸชจShare card

Share this experiment

Send it to a parent who's looking for a 10-minute kitchen science win.

๐Ÿ–จ๏ธ

Checkout complete lesson on Engineering and Design for 4th Grade

Get the full Engineering and Design track as a printable PDF โ€” all lessons, worksheets, and answer keys.

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