Bending Light

Today we asked, what do you think makes a rainbow? 

C- “Unicorns and magic. I think the rainbow magic comes out of unicorns.”

E- “Sun and water, because when it rains and the sun comes out at the same time it makes a rainbow.

J- "The rain comes out then sun comes out first and then the sun comes out and it makes a half rainbow. If you see a whole rainbow you might see a darker rainbow.”

HM- “You put the sun in front of there and then you put the rain right in front of there and then the cloud holds the rainbow. Sometimes when you go slow past the clouds it stays there for 20 to 10 minutes.”

L- “So you put the sun on the wall, and then you put the rain on the floor and the sun holds the rainbow and the rain holds the rainbow.”

HM- “You put the sun on the wall and you put the rain right here.” (Holds hand to floor.)

We experimented with blowing bubbles into water and soap, then we blew bubbles into hemp milk. We watched a Mystery Science program that discussed the concept of bending light through prisms and how water can act as a prism, bending white light. 

HM "It's like a balloon!"

The children blew lots of bubbles and on of the soap and water bubbles were rainbows! We did not see any rainbows on top of the hemp milk bubbles. 

Based on what you observed, what do you think makes a rainbow, now?Why do you think rainbows appear on water and soap bubbles, but they do not seem to appear in the hemp milk?

E- “Maybe it’s clear so that’s what is making the rainbows.”

We discovered that clear water and soap produced rainbows and hemp milk bubbles did not show rainbows. 

E "a bubble monster!"