You can show your kids how to make their very own rainbow with light, a glass of water, and a piece of paper!
What You Need:
- A glass of water
- A sheet of white paper
- A sunny day or a flashlight
Instructions:
- Fill the glass almost to the top with water.
- If you are using sunlight, place the glass so that it is half on and half off the edge of a table, and so that the sun shines directly through the water, onto a sheet of white paper on the floor.
- Adjust the paper and the glass until a rainbow forms on the paper.
- If you are using a flashlight, place the glass of water on the white piece of paper, and move the flashlight around until you see a rainbow on the piece of paper
Why?
Light is made up of many colors, and when it passes through water, it is broken up into the other colors seen in a rainbow.
The rainbow in this picture was made with a flashlight, and can be seen near the bottom of the glass. It was not a very big rainbow, but once the flashlight was placed just right, there it was!