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Type
science_lab
Pre Lab
Background: Have you ever noticed that wearing a black shirt on a sunny day makes you feel hotter than wearing a white shirt? This is not just your imagination — it is science! All objects around us interact with **electromagnetic radiation**, which is energy that travels as waves, including visible light. When light waves hit a surface, one of three things can happen: the light can be **reflected** (bounced away), **absorbed** (taken in as heat energy), or **transmitted** (passed through the object).
Dark-colored surfaces, like black, tend to **absorb** more light energy and convert it into **thermal energy** (heat). This happens because dark pigments do not reflect much visible light — instead, they take in most of the light that hits them. Light-colored surfaces, like white, do the opposite. They **reflect** most of the light that hits them, which means they absorb less energy and stay cooler. This is why buildings in hot climates are often painted white and why solar panels are designed to be very dark.
In this open inquiry lab, you will design your own investigation to explore how color affects **heat absorption**. You will measure **temperature change** in different colored containers or surfaces exposed to the same light source. As you plan your investigation, think carefully about what you will change (your **independent variable**), what you will measure (your **dependent variable**), and what you will keep the same (your **controlled variables**) to make sure your test is fair and your results are trustworthy.
Vocabulary
Term: Electromagnetic radiation
Definition: Energy that travels as waves through space, including visible light, infrared, and ultraviolet radiation.
Term: Absorption
Lab Type
Post Lab
Standards
Safety Level
Teacher Notes
Estimated Time
Experiment Design
Research Question
Learning Objectives
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