Rainbows-Daily Reflection 2

Today I looked up some information in Rainbows by David Whitfield. I found a lot of information from the book that was very useful and helpful. I learned that....

• There is no record of when the first rainbow was seen.


• Rainbows are often used in art to symbolize a bridge between Earth and the heavens above.


• Scientists believe that Titan, Saturn's moon, might have rainbows. Titan's air contains a type of gas that could create rainbows when the sun shines.


• Large raindrops produce bright reds, oranges and yellow in the rainbow. Small raindrops produce bright blues.


• When veiwed from an airplane with the sun behind it, a rainbow looks like a complete circle.


• Rainbow colors are created when sunlight shines on raindrops in the sky.


• When all colors are mixed together, sunlight looks white. When sunlight is bent in a raindrop, it separates into seven different colors- the colors of the rainbow.


• Billions of raindrops are needed to make a rainbow.


• A prism is a triangle-shaped peice of glass. When sunlight strikes a prism, the light does not shine through in a straight line. The light slows down and is bent as it enters the prism.


• Sometimes rainbows can be mistaken for sundogs and halos. When the sun shines on ice crystals, a bright halo appears around the sun. Bright spots on either side of the halo are called sundogs.


• Most sundogs are white but sometimes they appear red on the inside and blue on the outside, which is why rainbows often get mistaken for them.


• Considering the fact that there most be moist for a rainbow to appear, rainbow reflections appear near boat spray, water spray, waterfalls, garden hoses, puddles, lawn sprinklers and soap bubbles.


• Most times when sunlight is reflected on moisture or wet areas it causes a reflection and resemblence of a rainbow and its colors.


• Sometimes nature creates two rainbows together. The rainbows are seen on above the other. When there are two rainbows, the lower one is called a primary rainbow and the higher one is called a secondary rainbow.


• Sunlight most be very strong to create two rainbows, also known as a double rainbow.


• The sunlight is reflected once in raindrops to make the primary rainbow. Then, if it reflected again, it creates the secondary rainbow. The secondary rainbow is not as bright.


• The colors of the secondary rainbow are reversed. Violet is at the top outer edge and red is the bottom inner edge.


• Sometimes, a full moon can create a rainbow at night. This is called a lunar rainbow. They are rare though.


• Lunar rainbows are sometimes so pale that they appear as a white arc in the night sky.


• Rainbows are featured in folktale all around the world.


• In Irish folktale, leprechauns are said to bury their pots of gold at the end of the rainbow.


• In African myths, the rainbow was a giant snake that hunted after a rainfall.


• Some stories from Eastern Europe also featured the rainbow as a giant snake. The snake drank water from seas, lakes, and rivers then sprinkled the water over the land as rain.


• Long ago, people in Finland believed a rainbow was the bow used by the Thunder God to shoot arrows of lightning.


• Long before weather bulletins on televison or radio, people looked for weather clues in nature. They used poems to explain the weather.


• Here are two examples of a weather poem:

Rainbow to windward, foul fall the day,

Rainbow to leeward, rain runs away

This is saying that if the wind is blowing from the rainbow, rain is coming toward you. If the wind is blowing toward the rainbow, rain is moving away from you.

Rainbow at morning, sheperd take warning,

Rainbow at night, sheperd's delight

This is saying that if you see a rainbow in the morning, the weather won't be so good but if you se a rainbow at night, the weather will be nice.

Some of this information I have already known but most of the information was new and I was really interested in and excited to learn about. Most of my questions got answered.I didn't have any problems today with anything and I don't have many more questions about my topic but I want to find new information about rainbows because from the information I already have, this topic is interesting and fun for me. Today I feel happy and excited that I chose this topic. I learned so many things I would have never known without doing this project. Next, I am going to look for more information in the other books I have and I didn't have any help from anyone today. (: