The Light Trap

National Standards for Grades 3-7

Investigate light’s role in energy transfer and sight, and find out how pigments connect science, art, and society! Students will learn about the darkest coating in the world, paint super-black objects, and so much more!  

The Light Trap: Investigating Light and Pigments is a part of the Science Unlocked physics curriculum series grades 3-7. Light works in wondrous ways! The Light Trap is an Accelerate level Science Unlocked curriculum kit for the student interested in studying the science of light with an artistic flair! 

In this kit, students will investigate light's role in energy transfer and find out how pigments connect science, art, and society. In several fun science experiments and STEM activities, they'll get hands-on with some super-black paint, see how coatings are used to make things incredibly dark, explore light refraction, and use chromatography to test paint and ink!

The Light Trap comes with a full-color Student Curriculum Workbook and a detailed Teacher Guide. It uses a phenomenon-based approach, designed to fully engage students in concepts of light patterns, energy transfer, reflection and absorption, and the particle model of matter. Through a series of light science experiments, students will gain an understanding of how science and art are connected through the application of chemistry and physics. This Accelerate level kit will provide over 9 hours of learning and includes science activities that introduce your student to many foundational chemistry concepts.

The student will engage in these exciting activities:

1. Paint some objects with super-black paint
2. Learn about the darkest coating in the world, Vantablack®
3. Shine a light on albedo by experimenting with painted objects
4. See if you can make objects "disappear" using only paint
5. Discover color mixing and separation (chromatography)
6. Compare the chromatography "crawls" of paint and ink

Use The Light Trap to answer questions such as:

• How are science and art connected?
• How do energy and light travel? 
• How are pigments used to reflect and absorb light?
• What happens when light passes through bright vs. dark surfaces?
• How do super-dark coatings work? 
• Can you make a rock or piece of paper disappear? 

Watch as wavelengths travel to make light bend before your eyes! This kit provides students with a fun STEM challenge by diving into rainbow science to understand how light sources are either reflected or absorbed. Students will test a variety of surfaces and coatings through a series of DIY simple science experiments and light activities. Learn how light waves refract from one surface to another and see if you can make objects disappear! You may even spark an idea for your next science fair project!

Need additional Student Workbooks?

Buy an extra student workbook for The Light Trap kit. This student workbook allows multiple students to be able to work through the lessons in the complete The Light Trap kit.

Note: This student workbook is not a standalone item. It is intended to be purchased and used alongside the Science Unlocked kit, The Light Trap. The workbook does not include any of the lab materials needed to complete the experiments.