Using a Prism to View a Rainbow

The Colors of White Light

This activity is to have students understand that WHITE LIGHT is actually made up of a SPECTRUM of colors.

                 Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet

Too cloudy....had to wait 2 days for the Sun!

Materials

• Prism
• Flashlight
• White wall, white ceiling, or white poster board
• Lots of natural sunlight, flashlight, or overhead projector light

Directions:

• Turn on a flashlight.
• Ask the children a question, "What color is light?"
• Tell them that we will be doing an activity/experiment to get the answer to our question.
• Put a prism in a very sunny window or have the students hold up a prism to the natural light or the flashlight, etc.
• The students should OBSERVE a rainbow on the wall, ceiling, or poster board.
• Discuss the students' observations.
• Have students SKETCH a picture of what they observed. 

 

Explanation: White light hits the glass prism. When the light hits the prism, it is slowed down and bent. When the colors come out the other side, they are bent again. Each color (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet) is bent by a different amount and the colors are separated.


More examples of light bending!
Materials needed: prism and straws or crayons
Directions: Place a prism over the straws or crayons. Have Fun!

Explanation: Light travels fastest through air. When light enters the glass prism it slows down and changes direction a little, making the straws or crayons look bent.




Have fun with rainbows!

 

ROY G BIV Video, Song, Book, and Craft (Rainbows)

Science and Music

White Light is really made up from a group of colors called the SPECTRUM.
The colors of the spectrum are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.
An easy way to remember this is to remember the ACRONYM, "ROY G BIV". Each letter stands for one of the colors in the spectrum.

  

  

Here is a cute little song and video about the color spectrum and ROY G BIV. (It's a hit with the kids!)

Click Here: ROY G BIV Video and Song


Arts and Crafts Follow-Up

Have the kids draw and color their own rainbow using the 7 colors of the spectrum. Drawing paper or white paper plates (cut in half) with some crayons, paints, or markers should be enough to get the kids started.
(For younger kids, the teacher may have to draw the rainbow, then help the kids choose the correct colors.)

clipart by www.graphicsfactory.com

 

Instead of using crayons, I've seen some students use paint, colored cheerios, or small squares of colored tissue paper glued on the paper plates. :)

Children might even surprise you when you give them some sidewalk chalk. They may draw you a picture like the following when at the park or at outdoor recess.

Katie at Sergeant Major Mom's Blog made an AWESOME Layered Rainbow Cake. Here is a link to her post.
Click Here: Katie's Layered Rainbow Cake


Language Arts

A book for children on this topic is The Magic School Bus Makes a Rainbow, A Book about Color.  (Have you met Ms. Frizzle?)

 

MATH Extension Activity

To add a math activity to this theme, students could tally and graph their favorite color!


Have fun learning about rainbows!