Activity Description: Scouts use sunlight and light-splitting tools to observe how white light 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 or sunlit window
- Star Notebook
- Colored pencils
- A variety of light-splitting tools: CD, DVD, prism, clear-faceted gem, diffraction glasses, or a glass of water and white paper
- (Optional) Multiple tools for comparison
- (Optional) Clipboards or hard surface for writing outdoors
Instructions (Estimated Total Time: 25–35 min):
- Set up in direct sunlight (3–5 min)
- Scouts choose a light-splitting tool and find a sunny spot or window.
- Use white paper to catch the rainbow if needed.
- Observe and draw what they see (5–8 min)
- Scouts use their notebook to draw the rainbow or light pattern.
- Include notes about what the light looked like before and after using the tool.
- Try a second tool and compare (5–7 min)
- Scouts repeat the experiment with a different light-splitting device.
- Record how the results are the same or different.
- Sort and analyze their data (5–7 min)
- Scouts write down what they discovered about light and the tools.
- Compare how each tool worked and which one they preferred.
- Share final observations (5–8 min)
- Scouts take turns sharing one thing they learned or found interesting.
- Discuss how scientists use light to study stars and space.
The Badge Archive 