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Light and Rainbows

Objectives:

Students will create a rainbow using simple materials.

Students will discover the conditions necessary for a rainbow to be seen.

Students will make a rainbow disappear using principles of reflection

Next Generation Science Standards Supported:

4-PS4-1. Develop a model of waves to describe patterns in terms of amplitude and wavelength and that waves can cause objects to move.

Common Core ELA Standards Supported:

CC.1.2.4.C Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in a text, including what happened and why, based on specific information in the text.

PA Arts Standards Supported:

A. Know and use the elements and principles of each art form to create works in the arts and humanities

Materials:

Multi-Colored Flashlight (or Flashlights)

Water Glass

Water

The Super Science Book of Light (attached below)

2-D Arts Supplies (Markers, Crayons, etc.)

Making Inferences:

Discuss the following questions as a class. Allow students to share stories and experiences related to rainbows but ask students to not share stories about creating their own rainbows because this is what we will be exploring in this experiment. (For a fully student-led experiment, questions are included in the student packet)

   - Where have you observed rainbows? What do you know about rainbows?

   - When do you typically see rainbows? What conditions are needed for rainbows to occur?

   - What causes rainbows? Could we make a rainbow somehow?

Experimenting with Light:

Students are given: 1 water glass, multicolored flashlights, water, and a piece of paper.

Students will fill out the "Experimenting with Light" section of their packets, considering the following questions:

   - Can you make a rainbow using these materials?

   - How does the angle of the flashlight change what the rainbow looks like?

   - Do all different colors produce a rainbow or only certain ones? Why do you think this is?

Arts Integration:

Students will trace their reflected rainbows onto a piece of paper.

Ask: how could you incorporate this tracing into a greater picture? Using crayons, pens, pencils, markers, etc. make your own work of 2-dimensional art!

Explain:

Read pgs. 20-21 of The Super Science Book of Light by Graham Peacock and Terry Hudson

After reading the text, students will complete the following in their packet:

   - Write a one sentence summary for each page of the book.

   - How does this text explain your findings from the light experimentations?

   - Using what you have learned from your experience and from the text, what causes rainbows to occur?

Disappearing Rainbow:

Ask students to consider: If a prism splits light, is there a way that we could put it back together? 

Students may use an additional glass filled partially with water. Placing the second glass in the reflection of the rainbow will combine the split light back into a steady stream of white, essentially making the rainbow "disappear." 

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