Chasing rainbows
| National Curriculum links (Key Stage
3 science) |
Sc1
1a |
... the the interplay between empirical
questions, evidence and scientific explanations using historical
... examples |
Sc1
1c |
... about the ways in which scientists worked in
the past, including the roles of experimentation, evidence and creative
thought in the development of scientific ideas |
Sc4
3d |
... how light is refracted at the boundary between
two different materials |
Sc4
3e |
... that white light can be dispersed to give a range
of colours |
Resources
Chasing rainbows
provides a brief exploration of how Theodoric applied almost modern
methods to his investigation of rainbows 700 years ago - one of the
earliest recorded examples of systematic empirical investigation.
Activities
The single activity sheet here contains instructions for carrying out
a version of Theodoric's experiment using simple apparatus. A link to
the How Stuff Works website provides further
information at a level appropriate to Key Stage 3/4 (with a good
explanation of refraction). For teachers, the University site at Georgia
State University (http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/atmos/rbowpath.html)
provides further details about rainbow formation (at a level well above
that appropriate for Key Stage 3/4!)
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