With the program you can work with the rainbow in two ways. You can make a series of experiments, and you can simulate the rainbow in the computer room. Of course, you can also select some experiments and some exercises from the program.
The students can work in groups and graded education is possible. Cooperation with English is obviously possible. The work could be concluded with an article which might have the title: »How does the rainbow arise?«
The experiments
The instructions have been created through several first year annual examination projects in physics on Allerød Upper Secondary School, Denmark. They have also been adapted to and used in natural science. The students have made the exercises in turn; so to say, they have been »dipping« into various aspects of the rainbow with no other previous knowledge than the law of refraction. The goal was then to let everything fall into place so the question »How does the rainbow arise« could be answered once all experiments had been made. The students answered the questions through a series of problems which mainly prompted for descriptions and explanations instead of calculations.
The experiments can be used in various ways. Some of the experiments might conclude in a »real« physics report, whereas others could be treated as exercises. This might be an idea for a longer experimental course of about 10 hours, or possibly a thematic course in which groups of students show the experiments for one another.
The program
The rainbow has probably fascinated man since the dawn of time, and the students are always fascinated by the spectacular experiments of wave theory. Nonetheless, wave theory often causes problems. The purpose of the Rainbow program is to make the students learn a great deal about light and colors in a different way. Also, the program should give the students an opportunity to engage in the subject on an individual basis. A computer program can activate each student more than ordinary class lessons.
The Rainbow program consists of a series of simulations. All are active in the sense that you can change the illustration. There is a thorough help for all simulations and a series of exercises on the way.
The problems 7-13 are more difficult but included to provide an opportunity for cooperation with mathematics and supplemental material for a term paper.
But some things have not been taken into consideration!