Energy from the Sun — What colors and materials absorb more energy from the sun?
Energy from the Sun Read Aloud Book:
Materials:
- Ice cubes – 6 uniform in size
- Black paper
- White paper
- Sand
- Soil
- Rocks
- Water (in a wide container with the same surface area as the other materials)
- Trays for each material (optional)
- An adult to help you
What to do:
- On a sunny day, put each of these materials in a space outside. Lay them out next to one another, somewhat flat, so you can place ice cubes on them. Be sure they will receive the same amount of sun.
- Draw a data sheet and label each material (see below).
- Next, place an ice cube on each of the materials. Try to be sure each ice cube is uniform in size and place them as quickly as possible.
- Observe as your ice cubes start to melt.
- Which materials are melting the ice cubes fastest? Why?
- Draw what happens to your ice cubes on each of the materials.
- Talk about what is happening!
- Once you finish, you could try different colored paper, such as each color of the rainbow to try out another investigation!
- Take a picture or record a video of your investigation, post it on Facebook and tag us! @VINS.VT
Energy from the Sun — What colors and materials absorb more energy from the sun?
My Data Sheet:
| Black Paper | White Paper | Sand |
| Soil | Rocks | Water |
Contact education@vinsweb.org with questions or comments.