How Rainbows Form

Have you ever seen a colorful arc in the sky after a rain shower? That arc is called a rainbow. Sunlight looks white, but it is really made of many colors mixed together. When sunlight passes through tiny drops of water in the air, the drops bend and separate the light. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet spread out in a band. You often see a rainbow when the sun is behind you and rain clouds are in front of you. Each person sees a slightly different rainbow because the light enters their eyes at a special angle. A second, fainter rainbow sometimes appears outside the first one with colors reversed. Rainbows do not have a pot of gold at the end, but they do show how light and water work together in nature.

The Life of a Bean Plant

A bean seed may look dry and hard, but inside it holds a tiny plant ready to grow. When the seed gets water, warmth, and air, it germinates. First a root pushes down into the soil to anchor the plant and drink water. Then a sprout pushes up toward the light. Two seed leaves unfold and begin making food using sunlight. As the stem grows taller, more leaves appear. The plant needs sunlight, water, and minerals from the soil to stay healthy. Flowers may form on mature bean plants. Inside a flower, pollen helps seeds develop inside a pod. When the pod dries, new seeds are ready to plant again. Students who grow beans in cups can measure height each week and record changes in a science notebook.