Virtual Show and Tell Day 4 - Rainbows of Hope
Date: 26th Mar 2020 @ 9:04am
Thank you for your amazing Make or Bake pictures. They are all attached to this blog post so you can see your friends. We had all sorts of baking, science and even a submarine!
I've changed the schedule for today as children have also sent me 'Rainbows of Hope.' You may have seen them in the news:
BBC article on rainbows in windows
Families are making rainbows to put in their windows so that folks out for their daily exercise can spot them and have their spirits lifted.
How will you make, draw, paint or craft your rainbow?
Can you put the colours in the right order?
Did you know that sunlight is made up of many colours all put together?
A rainbow appears when the light gets split up into its 7 different colours: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.
Usually – the reason the light gets split up is because it is passing through a substance that bends the light. The different coloured wavelengths bend in different amounts.
Red tends to bend the least, so it appears on the top of the rainbow, while violet bends the most and ends up on the bottom – with all the other colours in between.
When we see a rainbow in the sky, it is usually when the sun is behind us and it is shining through millions of tiny raindrops floating in the sky – all of which are bending the light and projecting the rainbow.
(Did you know that sometimes – rainbows appear at night too? Read this post to find out about Moonbows!)
In any case – we don’t need raindrops to make a rainbow. Here are 2 ways to make rainbows of your own INSIDE!
1.MAKING RAINBOWS WITH A MIRROR
Let’s start
Fill a large bowl or dish halfway with water and prop up a mirror inside it so that part of the mirror is under the water and part is out.
Place the rainbow maker near a sunny window with direct light coming in so that it hits the mirror (early morning or early evening light works best).
Play around with holding a large white piece of paper above the maker to “catch” the rainbow. You might have to move a bit until you find it.
Play around with moving the paper closer to the mirror and then farther away to see how your rainbow changes!
SAFETY NOTE: Just like you should never look directly into the sun, be sure that you do not look directly into the reflection from the mirror. It can damage your eyes. If you are at all concerned about this with your child, instead of using sunlight, try a darkened room with a strong light source instead.
2. MAKING RAINBOWS WITH A GLASS OF WATER
When light goes through a glass of water – it also splits into a rainbow.
To get ready – take a piece of paper and cut a slot into the middle of it. Tape this onto the side of a smooth/clear drinking glass so that the sun’s rays can pass through the opening onto the SURFACE of the water in the glass.
You will need to do this on a very sunny day (or try a darkened room with a strong direct light source.)
Make sure that the glass of water is VERY FULL. Place the glass on a white floor or white piece of paper, making sure the sun’s rays are shining through the slot in your paper and hitting the surface of the water.
You should see a mini-rainbow appear below the glass!
Can you describe the colours you see? How are the rainbows you have made different or similar to the ones you have seen in the sky?
Have fun and a hope filled day.
Love,
Mrs Brown
