

Professor Picklebottom
Colour Smashers
Professor Picklebottom thought he knew what would happen when two colours were smashed together.
Red and blue? Easy.
Yellow and blue? Surely he knew that one too.
But these aren't paints — they're transparent colours with light passing through them.
When two paddles overlap, something surprising happens.
Will the colours mix the way you expect… or are the Colour Smashers hiding a trick?
Today your mission is to predict, smash and investigate what happens when coloured light passes through more than one transparent colour.

Ages
5-12 yrs
Duration
min
15
Difficulty
Easy
Stage
Stage 1-3
Cite this resource
Created by Darin Carr (BSc, DipEd)
NESA Accredited Teacher · Chemistry & Physics Specialist · 30+ years in-class teaching
Resource Version: 1.0
First Published:
Last Updated:
2 Mar 2026
11 Aug 2026

MISSION VERIFIED
Classroom tested. Teacher designed. Safe at home.

Designed by Darin Carr (BScDip Ed)
Practising NESA accredited
Australian Science Teacher
★ 30+ years of classroom experience
MISSION PROGRESS
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LATEST TEACHER FEEDBACK
"The kids loved it. I also liked how it helped structure their thinking and predicting".
Year 6 Science Specialist
Mr Tam

Before you investigate... watch the mystery
MISSION HOOK
Professor Picklebottom and the team are travelling and collecting amazing science mysteries.
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Mission Equipment
Gather your materials and get
ready for an amazing mission!
· Set of 3 transparent coloured paddles (red, yellow, blue)
(or coloured cellophave
· A bright light source — sunlight works best; a torch or lamp also works
· White paper or a white wall as a background
· Colour Smashers Discovery Sheet (included — print one per student)

Let’s Investigate
Follow the missions steps below to solve the mystery.
1
Big Title

Gather your materials and get
ready for an amazing mission!
PREDICT
OBSERVE
EVIDENCE
ASK
SAFETY
TIP
PREDICT
Gather your materials and get
ready for an amazing mission!
1
Big Title

Gather your materials and get
ready for an amazing mission!
PREDICT
OBSERVE
EVIDENCE
ASK
SAFETY
TIP
PREDICT
Gather your materials and get
ready for an amazing mission!
1
Big Title

Gather your materials and get
ready for an amazing mission!
PREDICT
OBSERVE
EVIDENCE
ASK
SAFETY
TIP
PREDICT
Gather your materials and get
ready for an amazing mission!
1
Big Title

Gather your materials and get
ready for an amazing mission!
PREDICT
OBSERVE
EVIDENCE
ASK
SAFETY
TIP
PREDICT
Gather your materials and get
ready for an amazing mission!
1
Big Title

Gather your materials and get
ready for an amazing mission!
PREDICT
OBSERVE
EVIDENCE
ASK
SAFETY
TIP
PREDICT
Gather your materials and get
ready for an amazing mission!
1
Big Title

Gather your materials and get
ready for an amazing mission!
PREDICT
OBSERVE
EVIDENCE
ASK
SAFETY
TIP
PREDICT
Gather your materials and get
ready for an amazing mission!
1
Big Title

Gather your materials and get
ready for an amazing mission!
PREDICT
OBSERVE
EVIDENCE
ASK
SAFETY
TIP
PREDICT
Gather your materials and get
ready for an amazing mission!
1
Big Title

Gather your materials and get
ready for an amazing mission!
PREDICT
OBSERVE
EVIDENCE
ASK
SAFETY
TIP
PREDICT
Gather your materials and get
ready for an amazing mission!
1
Big Title

Gather your materials and get
ready for an amazing mission!
PREDICT
OBSERVE
EVIDENCE
ASK
SAFETY
TIP
PREDICT
Which two colours will you smash first? What colour do you think they will make?
1
Meet Your Colour Smashers

Gather your materials and get
ready for an amazing mission!
PREDICT
OBSERVE
EVIDENCE
ASK
SAFETY
TIP
PREDICT
Which two colours will you smash first? What colour do you think they will make?
1
Meet Your Colour Smashers

Gather your materials and get
ready for an amazing mission!
PREDICT
OBSERVE
EVIDENCE
ASK
SAFETY
TIP
PREDICT
Which two colours will you smash first? What colour do you think they will make?
1
Big Title

Gather your materials and get
ready for an amazing mission!
PREDICT
OBSERVE
EVIDENCE
ASK
SAFETY
TIP
PREDICT
Which two colours will you smash first? What colour do you think they will make?
The Crazy Scientist LAB Learning System™
Every experiment follows The Crazy Scientist Lab Learning System™ — a simple way to help kids think like real scientists.
We
-
LINK to what they already know,
-
ACTIVATE curiosity through hands-on discovery
-
BUILD understanding that actually sticks.

You've been mixing colours your whole life — with paint, with pencils, with crayons. You already know red + blue = purple. Easy.
But what if the rules are completely different when you smash colours made of light?
Take a red Smasher and a blue Smasher. Hold them up to the light and overlap them. Write down your prediction first — then smash.

Smash two paddles together in front of the light — what colour appears in the smash zone?
Try RED + YELLOW — was the smash what you expected?
Smash all THREE together at once — what colour do you get?
Can you find a smash that makes the colour darker? What about brighter?
Challenge: can you find ALL the different colours possible with just these three Smashers?

Mixing coloured light is the opposite of mixing paint — the more you add, the lighter it gets.
Your TV makes every colour using only red, green and blue dots — how does it make yellow? Or skin colour? Or white?
Why does mixing all colours of paint make brown/black, but mixing all colours of light makes white?
Stage lighting designers mix coloured lights to create a mood — why does red feel warm and blue feel cold, even though they're both just light?
"Want the full teacher guide? The Crazy Scientist Lab includes classroom delivery tips, how to manage the WOW moment, differentiation for Stage 2 & 3, — ready to teach tomorrow."
Think Like a Scientist
Scientists don't stop after their first discovery.
They ask new questions, collect more evidence and test their ideas in different ways.
Where could you take this investigation next?
What happens if you smash your colours against a coloured wall instead of a white one? Does a yellow wall change the smash zone colour?
What happens if you use a thicker Smasher — or try one that isn't as transparent? Does the smash zone get darker or does it change colour?

Dr Puddledrip’s Science Tip

Read the Science
Why Did the Colours Change?
White light might look colourless, but it contains many different wavelengths of visible light — the colours we see in a rainbow.
When white light reaches one of your Colour Smashers, something interesting happens.
The paddle doesn't simply add colour to the light.
It acts as a colour filter.
What Does a Colour Filter Do?
A coloured filter allows some wavelengths of light to pass through while absorbing others.
For example, a yellow filter mainly allows red and green light through while absorbing much of the blue light.
The light that reaches your eyes therefore looks yellow.
So the colour you see depends on which wavelengths survive the journey through the filter.
What Happened When
You Smashed Two Colours Together?
When you overlapped two paddles, the light had to travel through two filters.
The first filter removed some wavelengths.
Then the second filter removed some more.
Only wavelengths that could pass through both filters reached your eyes.
That's why overlapping the paddles created a new colour — and why the result may not have been what you predicted.
Why Did It Get Darker?
You may also have noticed that overlapping several paddles made the view darker.
That's because every filter absorbs some of the incoming light.
Add another filter and even less light may make it through.
Scientists call this subtractive colour mixing because wavelengths of light are being subtracted from the original white light.
Teachers & Homeschoolers: Print-ready HD versions of this Science Behind It poster and companion G&T Challenge Card are available inside The Crazy Scientist LAB.
Scientist's Challenge
Designed for HPGE, gifted learners and children who enjoy an extra challenge.

Teachers & Homeschoolers: Print-ready HD versions of this Science Behind It poster and companion G&T Challenge Card are available inside The Crazy Scientist LAB.
The Next Question...
You've solved today's mystery. Now discover where curiosity can take you next.

Teachers & Homeschoolers: Print-ready HD versions of this Science Behind It poster and companion G&T Challenge Card are available inside The Crazy Scientist LAB.
Vocabulary
Filter — A material that lets some colours of light pass through while blocking others.
Absorb — To take in light instead of letting it pass through.
Transmit — To allow light to pass through a material.
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Keep Exploring This Mystery
One experiment leads to even more amazing discoveries inside the Learning Universe.
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