Lesson Plan #: AELP-PHS0074
Date: April 4, 2000
Grade Level(s): 2
Subject(s):
Description: Students will have the opportunity to explore how rainbows form through an exploration of prisms.
Goals: NSES: Science as Inquiry; Physical Science: Light can be refracted by a lens
Objectives: Student will demonstrate understandings of:
1. Prisms and raindrops can separate and "bend" white light into the colors of the rainbow.
2. The colors of the rainbow are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.
Materials:
Scientific Explanation:
How are rainbows formed? When light that is traveling through the air strikes a different medium such as water or glass, it suddenly changes directions and "bends". Raindrops and prisms separate white light in the colors of the spectrum: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.
Focus Phase:
What is the weather in Ireland like? It's often cloudy and rainy. That is why plants grow so well there and everything is green. There are also a lot of rainbows. Have you ever seen a rainbow? What does a rainbow look like? How are rainbows made? What colors are in a rainbow? Have students draw a rainbow and where they think rainbows comes from on a piece of paper.
Challenge Phase:
How are rainbows formed? Provide students with prisms. Tell them that a prism is just like a raindrop. Have them predict what they will see when they look through them at white light. Have them record their results on the worksheet.
Concept Introduction:
Ask students to share the results that they recorded on their worksheets. What happened when they viewed white light through the prism? What colors did they see? What order were the colors in? Tell the students that ordinary sunlight is called white light. Tell them that raindrops and prisms light separate white light into the colors of the rainbow. Tell them that light bends when it goes through different materials. Draw a rainbow on the board.
Concept Application:
Show students a cup with a penny in it. Have students move back until the penny is just out of sight. Ask them to predict what will happen when you pour water in the cup. Have them provide a rationale for their choice.
Assessment:
Have students return to their desks and draw another picture of a rainbow. Have them write a "science sentence" about how a rainbow is formed.