Activity Description: Scouts use water mist and light-splitting tools to observe how sunlight breaks into colors and record their findings.
- Fulfills Step 1 of GSUSA Cadette Space Science Researcher badge requirements.
Info Needed: Visible light is made up of many colors, even though it looks white to our eyes. When light bends, reflects, or spreads out, we can see those colors as a rainbow or pattern. Scientists use these color patterns to study stars and space, learning what stars are made of, how they move, and how much energy they give off.
Items Needed:
- A sunny day
- Garden hose or spray bottles filled with water
- Colored pencils
- Star Notebook
- (Optional) Additional light-splitting devices: glasses, CDs, aluminum foil, mirrors, prisms, bubbles, etc.
- (Optional) White paper to catch and view rainbows
Instructions (Estimated Total Time: 25–35 min):
- Go outside and set up in sunlight (3–5 min)
- Scouts face away from the sun in a safe, open area.
- Use a hose or spray bottle to create a fine mist in the air.
- Observe the rainbow (5–7 min)
- Scouts look for a rainbow in the mist.
- Notice how the water splits the sunlight into colors.
- Record observations in the notebook (5–7 min)
- Scouts draw the rainbow and describe what they saw.
- Include notes about the number and order of colors.
- Experiment with other tools (5–7 min)
- Scouts try different light-splitting devices and compare results.
- Record how each tool changes the light and what colors appear.
- Reflect and share findings (5–9 min)
- Scouts discuss what they learned about light and how it splits.
- Talk about how scientists use light to study stars and space.
- Compare which tools worked best and why.
The Badge Archive 