Soon the language of light is part of their everyday talk. For my kindergartners, this exploration serves as a way to begin investigating interesting light and color phenomena. It also begins the process of asking and answering their own questions, which is at the heart of the inquiry experience. As the children mature in their ability to communicate, they also build their vocabulary and knowledge of light and color and learn how to design their own investigations. Once the children are comfortable using their mirrors, I give them new tools to use, such as prisms.
Prisms allow the children to explore what happens when light is bent.
As they investigate, both in the classroom and out, each student learns how to observe and record information about light and color in their personal science notebooks. Children start to compare observations found outside the classroom with the investigations they do in class. They begin to see many ways to do research, and their observations become part of the repertoire of resources that we draw upon for further science explorations. The box has four rectangular windows where light beams shine through. For instance, they can use mirrors to project colors onto a screen, or mix the lights to make new colors.