Utah Education Network
Uen: I'm So Bright! I Wear My Shades Indoors!
This lesson engages students in learning about light through multiple sources. Students will learn how light is produced, reflected, refracted, and separated. Students will communicate their findings through an independent project that...
Utah Education Network
Uen: Enlightening Explorations, Part Ii
This lesson engages students in learning about light. Studets will describe how light is produced, reflected, refracted, and separated.
Physics Classroom
The Physics Classroom: Refraction and the Ray Model of Light
Six complete lessons on refraction and the ray model of light. Tutorials include informational text, interactive activities, animations, and quick, interactive comprehension checks along the way.
Exploratorium
Exploratorium: The Art and Science of Color
This series of programs includes hand-tinted archival films, contemporary offerings by local artists, and films created by artists drawing and painting on the film surface itself. Featuring animated, documentary, and homemade works.
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
Ucar: About Rainbows
This site from the University Corporation of Atmospheric Research provides an illustrated article about the phenomenon of rainbows.
University of Illinois
University of Illinois Urbana Champaign: Light and Optics
Rainbows and sunsets are called "atmospheric optics". They can be caused by light being absorbed, reflected, scattered, refracted, or diffracted by particles in the atmosphere. Learn all about different atmospheric optics along with...
Repeat After Us
Repeat After Us: The Rainbow Never Tells Me
A poem from Emily Dickinson, "The Rainbow Never Tells Me", is provided on this site. Students may listen to this poem read aloud by Scott Becker and can access a printable version of this piece.
Space Telescope Science Institute
Amazing Space: Star Light Star Bright
Learn all about stars and the electromagnetic spectrum in this series of activities.
South Carolina Educational Television
Etv: Nasa Online: Light: Scattering Light
An introduction to the concept of the visible light spectrum provided in an animated format.
Curated OER
Weather Dude: Rainbows
Informational site allows users to discover what makes a rainbow. Discover how they form and learn some interesting facts about them along the way.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Graphing the Rainbow
Students are introduced to different ways of displaying visual spectra, including colored "barcode" spectra, like those produced by a diffraction grating, and line plots displaying intensity versus color, or wavelength. Students learn...
NASA
Sci Jinks: Rainbow Simulation
Play around with the variables involved in rainbows. We know we usually see rainbows following a rain shower. What's the science behind it? Find out with this interactive.
South Carolina Educational Television
Know It All Media: Light and Color
Why do we see certain colors? This interactive animation demonstrates the concept of the visible spectrum, and how we see the different colors of the rainbow.
Read Works
Read Works: The Whys of Weather the Colors of the Rainbow
[Free Registration/Login Required] A Native American legend explaining the origin of rainbows. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Read Works
Read Works: Wild Weather
[Free Registration/Login Required] Students read about different types of March weather including: clouds, blizzards, thunder, lightning, and rainbows. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in cause and effect.
Read Works
Read Works: The Whys of Weather Rainbows
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about rainbows and how they are formed. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Math Science Nucleus
Math/science Nucleus: Light Magic
This animation discusses light and the properties of light in a storybook format. The animations cover the colors of the rainbow (ROYGBIV) along with prisms, light waves, reflection, and refraction.
Other
Atmospheric Optics
Instead of just ooohing and aaahing over that beautiful sunset, impress your loved ones with an insightful and informed explanation of just what makes sunsets so interesting, and they will oooh and aaah at you too! At this site, you'll...
Optical Society
Optical Society of America: Optics for Kids: What Causes Rainbows?
An experiment to demonstrate how to make a rainbow and why they form.
Teachers.net
Teachers.net Lesson: Weather
Here are several great lesson ideas for a weather unit. The lessons cover topics in math and science including making clouds, recreating the water cycle, and making a tornado. There is also a list of weather resources for more information.
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: News in Science: Astronomers Seek Life at End of Rainbow
From ABC News in Science, Marilyn Head's article explores the possibility entertained by several researchers that the key to discovering life beyond Earth (or habitable planets) is in studying rainbows.
York University
York University: Color and Color Vision
York University provides an index page to several other pages on the topic of color and color vision. The pages are part of an online "book." Many graphics and explanations.
Other
Hong Kong Observatory: Nature's Wonders Explained
Learn about sunburns, rainbows, lenses, red eyes in photos, and why the sky is blue. Slightly random set of "wonders" but informative and available in both English and Chinese.