The kids looked at the water from the top: "It looks kinda like the sky right now!" "This is your sunset," I explained, "Now, look from the top, what color do you see?" Then, I shone a flashlight through one side, and asked them too look at the light reflected on the black screen. I showed them the clear cylinder of water, and started to add a drop of milk to it. "Hey, do you guys want to make your own sunset?" I asked. Then I explained that the sun is actually composed of many different gases (mostly hydrogen and helium), and all of them give us the different colors that make up the white light. The kids weren't sure (they were pretty young), so I gave them some hints. "Wow," says one little boy, as if I just told him a really important secret. "Yes, it is!" I tell them,"Except here, the gas is super energized. "Is this the same helium?" another one asked, pointing at the bulb. "Where else can you find helium?" I asked. I could see the excitement in their eyes and voices as they realized how amazing light really is. They were all super excited to see what colors they would see with the diffraction grating. "What colors do you see?" I asked the kids each time I changed the bulbs to helium, argon, hydrogen, and krypton gas. Why is the rainbow the shape that it is? Why do elements produce certain colors and not others? These are two of the questions that I remember most vividly, and they really caused me to think about the physics behind them - as well as the motivation behind why we want to know it. It made me remember why I am studying science in the first place why it's so fun and exciting to ask the most fundamental questions. I just cannot believe the enthusiasm and curiosity the kids brought to this event. Until I do a similar outreach activity next time. This line, literally, made my entire day. "It changed how I see the world," one little girl said, pointing at her diffraction grating. Some parts are especially memorable, for both the kids and us. What is Science on Saturday? Hundreds of kids running around Kresge and having fun with physics demos after having seen an exciting stage show things like oobleck (corn starch!) oozing lazily through their fingers, hair standing up on their heads, and magnets jumping up and down. Blog Science on Saturday Sasha Churikova February 7, 2015
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