Do you like watching rainbows in the sky? Here are five outstanding facts about rainbows for kids.
Rainbows are formed when sunlight shines through raindrops. The light is bent by the raindrop revealing all the colours that make up the light. The bending of light is called refraction. This forms the rainbow we see as all the colours are revealed.
Double rainbows are caused when light reflects in the raindrop twice making a second rainbow that is a little bit fainter than the first.
When we see rainbows they look like a giant arched bridge but we are only seeing half of the rainbow when we look at it from the ground.
This is because the sun is the light source which creates the rainbow and it is the middle of the rainbow. So the rainbow is a huge circle of light reflecting on the rain that dips under the horizon. We see rainbows as a semi-circle or arch because the other half of it is hidden behind the horizon so we can’t see it from the ground.
That’s why there isn’t a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, because rainbows have no end.
In Viking mythology the Bifrost was a rainbow bridge connecting Asgard, the kingdom of the gods, to the rest of the nine realms. The Bifrost was guarded by the god Heimdall who watched over the nine realms with his incredible eyesight and hearing.
In Hawaiian mythology a man called Nu’u built a house on a boat to survive a great flood with his family. After surviving the flood the god Kāne came down to Nu’u on a rainbow bridge to explain why the flood had happened.
Every time you look at a rainbow you are seeing a different one to the person standing next to you. This is because the rainbow is caused by light going through rain and being seen by your eyes. Your eyes will see the rainbow differently to everyone else in the world. The rainbow will look very similar but it’s not the same rainbow. Each rainbow you see is just for you!
Want to make your own rainbow? Next time you get a very sunny day you can create a rainbow by turning on the garden hose and spraying water into the air. Make sure you are facing away from the sun so the light hits the water. The water will reflect the light creating a rainbow right in your garden. Make sure to ask your parents for permission first and they can help you make your own rainbow.
We hope you enjoyed learning more things about rainbows as much as we loved teaching you about them. Now that you know how majestic these rainbows are, you can move on to learn about other climate and weather stuff like: Thunder, Thunderstorms, Thunder and Lightning, Rainbows, Lightning, Floods, Earth’s Atmosphere, Hurricanes, Volcanoes, Earthquakes, Tornadoes, Blizzard, Wind and Tsunamis.
Why not subscribe to our LearningMole Library for as little as £1.99 per month to access over 2800 fun educational videos.
Leave a Reply