Today was the first day of school, not for the students but for the instructors. Andrew, Dr. Laycock, Dayana, Ralph, and I went to the a local school in Les Cayes to teach the students about light. The activity of the day was to make cardboard spectroscopes to view the visible light spectrum. The teams were Dayana and Andrew and Tom and Ralph with Dr. Laycock helping out where needed. The students were excited and ready to learn. The activity began with the students sharing their ideas about light and what they already knew. Then we talked about waves and the electromagnetic spectrum. Students then tried to put together spectroscopes using card board tubes, different diffraction gratings, index cards, tape, paper, and scissors. While students needed some guidance from time to time, they all were ultimately able to construct successful spectroscopes that could separate white light into its spectrum. Throughout the activity, we also talked about how diffraction gratings work, why white light is able to be split, and how spectroscopes can be used for astronomy. I am pleased to say that the students were able to answer all my questions at the end of the activity. I was so impressed by what the students were able to accomplish in an hour and a half. They truly demonstrated how smart and ready to learn they were. I look forward to tomorrow’s activities.