What Color is the Sun and Other Mysteries

A collection of demonstrations and activities to allow students and adults alike to explore what color the Sun is, address their preconceptions, and use scientific processes from the Next Generation Science Standards to explore this and related questions. The documents includes:

1. What Color is the Sun? – A full exercise, where students or participants in a discussion setting use scientific practices to investigate answers to simple questions such as what color is the Sun, why is the sky blue, what causes orange sunsets, and why the ocean is blue. The activity includes demonstrations, discussions, and participatory activities. These could be used in a classroom, an informal science event, a teacher workshop, or as part of a lecture on the Sun.

2. Drive-By Science: What Color is the Sun? – a briefer version of the full What Color is the Sun? This activity is designed for informal science settings, science fairs, science museums, and the like. It is designed to be more of a quick demonstration rather than an exploration, unlike the activity above.

3. Comic – What Color is the Sun? - An engaging comic book, designed for elementary and middle school age students. Two characters, Camilla Corona (a rubber chicken) and Colours O'IRIS (a peacock) explore questions relating to colors of the Sun. Versions exist in pdf, epub (for iPad), and in Spanish (pdf).

4. How Could One Determine the Color of the Sun (without damaging your eyes)? This has been adapted from an online activity: http://solar-center.stanford.edu/SID/activities/SunDetermine.html. A paper copy is provided.