Light, Color, and Spectroscopy for Kids

Dr. Pete ConnTeacher Workshops

Presented by John Varine & Robert Paysen
Wednesday, June 8, 2022 ◉ 9:00 am to 12:00 pm

This workshop will show strategies for introducing properties and behavior of light for elementary or middle school students. Methods for helping students to develop and use models for light based on observations of several phenomena will be presented and discussed.

Topics covered:

    Developing ROY G BIV and Subtraction of Colors

  • Cause & Effect
  • Wave Properties
  • Develop and Use Models

    • Why Colors Appear The Way They Do

  • Cause & Effect
  • Wave Properties
  • Develop and Use Models
  • Analyze and Design Solutions
  • Develop and Use Models

    • Preparation of a Spectral Chart and Qualitative Chemical Analysis

  • Wave Properties
  • Electromagnetic Spectrum
  • Analyze and Interpret Data
  • Develop and Use Models

    • Cross-Curricular Activity – Spectroscopy as an Art Form

    Target Audience: Elementary & Middle School

    Standards Addressed: SEP #1, 2, 6, 7, 8 GADOE 8th grade curriculum map, 4th grade curriculum map

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    Presenters

    John Varine earned a B.S. degree from Pennsylvania State University in 1964 and M.S. degree from Clarkson College of Technology in 1972. John taught Academic and Advanced Placement chemistry at Kiski Area School District in Vandergrift, PA from 1964 through 2002 (except for a two year period beginning in 1968 when he was in the Army). He served as Science Department Head, K – 12, throughout most of those years. He also taught chemistry lab classes part-time at California University of PA and at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg after retiring from Kiski Area. He was a Workshop Leader for Project SERAPHIM and for the Institute for Chemical Education (ICE), both funded by the NSF and headquartered at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. John has conducted more than 30 Project SERAPHIM and ICE workshops for science teachers. He is also a reviewer for the High School Teacher section of the Journal of Chemical Education.
    Robert A. Paysen earned a B. S. in chemistry at the College of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN, and a Ph. D. In Inorganic Chemistry from the University of Tennessee. After teaching for several years at Wofford College in Spartanburg, SC he joined the faculty of Bethany College in 1983, where he taught chemistry, computer science, forensics, mathematics, and physics and chaired the Physical Science department, until retiring in 2012 as an emeritus professor of chemistry. As a member of the American Physical Society, the American Chemical Society, Spectroscopy Society of Pittsburgh and the Society of Analytical Chemists of Pittsburgh, he has supported science education in the Western PA, Eastern OH, and northern WV region by presenting teacher workshops and planetarium talks to students.