If you’ve never done this experiment, you have to give it a try! This activity will show you the REAL reason that you should never look at the sun through anything that has lenses in it.
Because this activity involves fire, make sure you do this on a flame-proof surface and not your dining room table! Good choices are your driveway, cement parking lot, the concrete sidewalk, or a large piece of ceramic tile. Don’t do this experiment in your hand, or you’re in for a hot, nasty surprise.
As with all experiments involving fire, flames, and so forth, do this with adult help (you’ll probably find they want to do this with you!) and keep your fire extinguisher handy.
Materials:
- sunlight
- dead leaf
- magnifying glass
- fire extinguisher
- adult help
Here’s what you need to do:
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I have a very burnt and black sapling twig XD
Yes the angle of the sun does matter, but only with more sensitive experiments like the solar cell experiment here. For this experiment, you’ll be able to do it from anywhere you find sunlight.
We live in Canada and I know the temperature will make no difference but would the angle of the sun?
Collecting light that is just outside what our eyes can see and then enhancing that image using optics and electronics! You can read more about it here and here.
how do night goggles work
Unless you use a glass mixing bowl that is big.
Yes that’s fine, but if the fire catches something larger on fire, a bowl of water is going be used up pretty quickly.
Couldn’t you use a bowl of water instead of a fire extinguisher?
Fun! We had a pretty easy time of it and experimented with different colors of paper and different materials. My 8yro son had the idea to use the beam to burn the paper and make art with the hole and burn marks. He is into survival skills so we will try and start a bigger fire with the lense (in the proper safe setting of course).
My daughter is now outside sharing her new found knowledge with a friend.
Thank you. 🙂
The temperature shouldn’t have much of an effect, but clouds will. You can still catch things on fire if you’re patient and careful to follow the directions. Good luck!
Well, first of all the sun was behind a cloud most of the day. Then it was minus 10. So it didn’t really work.
Mabey I’ll have to wait until summer or spring. 🙂
What happened exactly?
It didn’t work. 🙁
As long as there is sunshine! 🙂
Can you do this experiment in the winter… he he he.
Differences in skin color are based on a pigment in the body called melanin. Melanin is produced by the skin (and other parts of the body) and produces darker skin color. One of the jobs of melanin is to absorb the sun’s harmful UV rays, much like the black absorbed more light in your experiment. So, the more melanin expressed in your skin, the more UV light rays will be absorbed, and the less at risk you will be for a sun burn.
When we did this experiment we tried to burn some paper. The black areas burned quickly, but we could hardly get the white areas to burn at all. We talked about how white reflects the light and black absorbs it. Now my daughter wants to know why white skin burns more easily than dark skin?
I burned a action figure! >:D
Good point – and make sure you do this experiment with an adult who knows how to use a fire extinguisher! (You’d be surprised how many people don’t…)
I’ve done it with paper and the paper cought on fire… I didn’t get hurt 😀 when it started to catch on fire it turned black and then I saw the fire so I steped on the paper to stop it, and heres a tip make the light go as small as it can go.
This experiment was awesome!!!! I burned a leaf, maple seed, and grass! Soooooo fun 🙂
Raena
Age 10