PS.4.3.2: Carry out investigations to explain how light is refracted and…

Earth and Sky at Home Grades K–5 · partly supports this outcome

Make a rainbow on the kitchen floor, grow crystals on a windowsill and build a cloud in a jar. Three classic home experiments that actually work, with the real science explained for grown-ups.

• Where do rainbows come from? 45 min, plus 10 min outside on a sunny day

  Children split sunlight into colours with a glass of water, test whether the water is what makes the rainbow, and make their own rainbow with a hose mist. They finish able to explain that white light is a mix of colours that water bends apart.

Bouncing Light: Mirrors, Water and Colour Grades 3–5

Steer a beam around a wall with mirrors, find out why a pencil looks broken in water, and split white light into the colours hiding inside it. Three hands-on lessons on reflection, refraction and colour that build on shadows and work in any climate.

• Why does a pencil look broken in water? 50–60 min

  Teams look at a pencil in a cup of water, make a hidden coin appear by pouring in water, and turn a water drop into a magnifying lens. Then they explain that light changes direction when it passes from air into water.

• What colours are hiding in white light? 55–65 min

  Teams spread a flashlight beam into a band of colours with a CD or a plastic prism, then shine coloured light on coloured paper. They explain that white light is a mixture, and that an object looks the colour of the light it reflects.

Printable practice for PS.4.3.2

These pages practise a closely related idea; the match to PS.4.3.2 is partial.

• Grade 4 Light and Colour printable pack, written for Ontario; the skill matches

  3 readings, 2 practice pages, 1 activity, 1 assessment, with answer keys. Free sample.

Need just this outcome? Build a custom pack from these pages, with its answer key, in about a minute. Custom packs come with All-access and school licences.