OVERVIEW

Activity Overview:

When it rains, it causes a phenomenon known as a rainbow. The rainbow is a simple construction because it only uses light and water. In this lesson we are going to do a couple of science experiments to make a rainbow, then we are going to do an unplugged computer science activity of sorting/ coding objects of the colors of the rainbow.

Meta description

• Subject Area: Computer Science, Mathematics, Science
• Grade Level : K-2
• Computer Science Domains:
  • Algorithms and Programming
• Computer Science Principles:
  • Recognizing and Defining Computational Problems, Creating Computational Artifacts, Testing and Refining Computational Artifacts
• Materials:
  • Website, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCPPLhPTAIk , two glasses, small piece of mirror, flashlight, a white piece of paper, paper towel, markers in the colors of the rainbow, three groups of rainbow colored items, and cards with each color written on them.
• Considerations:
  • Be flexible with the lesson, as the target age is K-2. Their attention span is smaller than older kids. As well as staying at their pace.

Lesson Plan

Overview

When it rains, it causes a phenomenon known as a rainbow. The rainbow is a simple construction because it only uses light and water. In this lesson we are going to do a couple of science experiments to make a rainbow, then we are going to do an unplugged computer science activity of sorting/ coding objects of the colors of the rainbow.

ASSESSMENT PRE/POST-TEST

What is the correct order of the colors in the rainbow?, How is a rainbow formed?, What two things make a rainbow possible?

OBJECTIVES

correctly place the colors of the rainbow, understand what makes a rainbow

CATCH/HOOK

After it rains, what are things that you see?

ACTIVITY INSTRUCTIONS

To start this lesson, I would do an informal pretest of what each of the pretest questions with the class as a whole. After the pretest I would show the video provided of the logistics of a rainbow. This video is really good for younger students because it is verbiage that younger students can understand, as well as it offers visual examples as well. One of the experiments that we are going to do is in this video. After the video we are going to do a think-pair-share of one thing that they learned from the video. After a couple of minutes of student discussion, pick 2-3 group to share what they discussed. After that activity, have students go back to their seat. Once they are back in their seats, we are going to start the first STEM activity. Using a glass full of water, small piece of mirror, flashlight, and a white piece of paper, we are going to make the first STEM project. With the help of 1-2 students, start by showing students that it is a glass of water, then have a student place the small mirror in the glass at an angle. Explain to students why this needs to be at an angle and not up and down. After that you’ll need to turn off the over head lights, then you can have a student shine the flashlight at the mirror while you are putting the piece of paper above the glass. You’ll then give students 1-2 minutes to discuss why they think that project worked. After giving students time to discuss, call on 1-2 tables to share their thoughts. We are going to start the second STEM activity, you’ll need two glasses full of water, the paper towel (which has lines at the ends of each color of the rainbow). You’ll start with putting each end of the paper towel into each glass. Once the ends of the your paper towel are in the glasses, you just watch and wait for the color to appear. The end result of the activity should be the entire length of the paper towel should have the colors of the rainbow, because of the water. After the paper towel is completely done changing, have your table groups discuss why they think that worked.After giving students time to discuss, call on 1-2 tables to share their thoughts. After giving students the opportunity to learn through visual, hands-on, we are going to get into the sorting activity. You’ll call groups of 7 up at a time. Randomly give each student in the grouping a random colored object. Explain to the class that there are three ‘rules’ that have to be followed. Those rules are first, you’re not allowed to change your item with another person, two, you are only allowed to move left or right one step, and third that only one person from the line can move at any given time. After addressing the ‘rules’ allow students to figure out the correct order of the rainbow. After each student has participated in a object group, have a group of student come up to try and figure out the order with only the color on a card.

Supplements

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REVIEW

In this lesson, we did two STEM activity making rainbows then we did an unplugged activity of sorting/coding colors of the rainbow.

STANDARDS