Practice understanding how light travels, how prisms bend light, and how rainbows show the colors inside white light.
Read each problem carefully. Write your answer in complete sentences when you can. Use the hints and pictures to help you.
Exploring how white light can split into many colors
Science - Grade 2-3
- 1
White light from the Sun can be split into many colors. Name three colors you might see in a rainbow.
- 2
A prism is a clear object that can bend light. What can happen when white light passes through a prism?
- 3
Circle the best choice: Light travels in straight lines until it hits something, or light travels in curly loops all the time. Explain your choice.
- 4
A student shines a flashlight through a prism onto white paper. Why is white paper a good place to look for the rainbow colors?
- 5
Put these rainbow colors in order from first to last: yellow, red, violet, green, orange, blue. Start with red.
- 6
Rainbows can appear when sunlight shines through tiny water drops in the air. How are the water drops like tiny prisms?
- 7
A mirror reflects light, but a prism bends and separates light. What does reflect mean?
- 8
Which setup is more likely to make rainbow colors: shining a flashlight through a clear prism or shining a flashlight at a red backpack? Explain why.
- 9
Draw or describe what you would see if white light went into one side of a prism and came out the other side.
- 10
Why is it important not to look directly at the Sun when trying to see or make rainbow colors?