Colour My World #5: Why is the sky pink?

Light through milky water

Light through clear water

Child initiated inquiry: Why is the sky pink?

When we were playing in the playground one sunny afternoon, Natalya looked up at the sky and asked: "Why is the sky pink?" I told the Water Group about Natalya's question and we researched together. We found an experiment from The Science Book of Color. It shows us how to create a sunset with water, milk, and flashlight which the children eagerly tried it. They exclaimed: "It's orange!" as we shined the light through milky water. We learned that white light from the sun passes through the air. At sunset, only orange and red rays get through the air. Tiny particles of dust or smoke in the air stop all the other colors.

The children concluded the activity by painting their own sunset.

Colour My World #4 - Exploring hues, tints and shades

tints & shades

"Indigo looks like blue," said Aiden. "But it looks purple," said Natalya. This led to our discussion - what is indigo? 

We decided to mix blue and purple together to see if they make indigo. First we need the colour purple. The children mixed blue and red together until they got purple. Then they added more blue. Natalya exclaimed: "It's indigo." Enxin said: " We just need to add more blue." I explained to the children that indigo is a secondary colour and when we mix primary colours together we may get different secondary colours called hues. 

Enxin asked: "How about pink? I can't make pink with the primary colours."
I prepared some white paint and the children tried adding white paint to the primary colours. They observed that when white is added, the colour gets lighter. I let them know that they are making a tint. I asked if they can guess what will happen if black is added to the colours. They all knew the answer - it gets darker (shades)! So knowledgeable! 

hues of orange

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