PLHS - Support for Learning

In Science this week the ELP S1/S2 class have been looking at rainbows - how they are formed and what colours make up the spectrum. As if Mother Nature knew what we were up to in class, she obliged us with a natural example of a spectrum in the sky above the school.

The photograph above is the view from our Science classroom window on Tuesday February 26th 2008 at 10.30am. Meanwhile, inside the class we were talking about prisms splitting white light into the many colours of the spectrum, Roy G Biv (the mnemonic used to help students remember the sequence of colours).

For those who are interested in the scientific phenomenoms that are rainbows…

The rainbow’s appearance is caused by dispersion of sunlight as it goes through raindrops. The light is first refracted as it enters the surface of the raindrop, reflected off the back of the drop, and again refracted as it leaves the drop.

 (Still with us?)

The overall effect is that the incoming light is reflected back over a wide range of angles, with the most intense light at an angle of 40°-42°

Science and nature coming together perfectly at Preston Lodge…

Now that’s what we call perfect timing!