Light, Colour & Rainbows

Several days ago, the sun shone beautifully through the window in the classroom in mid-afternoon. Suddenly, the children began to realize that there was a huge rainbow covering a significant portion of our meeting carpet. Through some deduction, we were able to link the rainbow to the glass jars of coloured water in our window. But then, it became obvious that there was more than one rainbow in the room. In fact, the walls were covered with many little rainbows. Light was shining through the prisms hanging in the window. Spectrums of colour were everywhere. The excitement and conversation that emerged out of that afternoon's discovery led to some of the provocations which you will notice below.

A variety of prisms, gels and mirrors were set out at the overhead projector for students to explore. Flashlights made it possible to investigate whether materials were transparent, translucent or opaque. 

A rainbow of Fruit Loops, some glue and a variety of construction paper allowed the students to think creatively at the Art Centre.

Rice dyed in seven different hues led to a lot of fun at the sensory bin. The rice managed to stay looking like this for only a matter of a few seconds before the colours were mixed and stirred together. 

The inquiry has led to a number of books being read on the topics of Light and Colour. Further investigation will continue this week as the children experiment at the water table with red, yellow and blue coloured water.