Colour Theory.

We have a lot of colour going on around here.


Ice cube Iridescence.
We spotted this one at The Crafty Crow and also at 5 Orange Potatoes. It was right up our alley, messy, colourful, edible ( although we didn't ) and we had everything already.
The boys filled a bowl with ice cubes and liberally covered them with salt. Some boys are more liberal than others so stock up on the salt. Then they dripped food colours on the ice. It didn't happen right away but within a few minutes one colour began to show a marked iridescence. I won't tell you which one, but you can probably guess! It was really a lot of fun. Even for the older wiser ( jaded) boy. We also watched as the salt melted parts of the ice faster than others. Quick, cheap and fun. That's how we like our science. We talked about why iridescence happens and found some other objects in the house that showed similar patterns. Then we got sidetracked on why ice melts faster with salt applied and how we use it on our roads and how the decision not to salt the roads ultimately caused our ineffectual city mayor to get booted from office...I digress...

This website explains colour really well. Causes of Iridescence.



Colour Wheel Flowers.
This afternoon Doodle and I made colour wheel flowers. A box of food colour, some filter paper flowers and a laminated sheet kept him busy for more than an hour. Wahoo! I downloaded this colourwheel activity and away he went. We don't have paper towels but we did have some paper flowers cut from absorbent filter paper. (Thank you Auntie Lisa!) We also forgot to dilute the food colour ( oops. Always read all the instructions before starting....always read....) It worked well anyway and held his attention for quite a while. And now we have a bouquet of colour wheel flowers. Next time we will dilute!
We don't home school full time but we do try and fit some home school type activities into our days. Both boys seem to carry over this kind of learning well and it's fun for me to play teacher. Even from the exalted perch of Middle School, Crusty still likes to do science at home and anything Crusty likes Doodle likes too
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