Refraction and the Colours of Light — Answers
Answer sheet with model answers and success criteria for the Year 5 energy, light, sound & electricity worksheet.
Success TutoringWorksheetsAnswer sheetYear 5 · Science · Energy, Light, Sound & ElectricityRefraction and the Colours of Light — Answers
Part A: Bending light
Read the passage. Then circle the best answer.
Light travels in straight lines, but it changes speed when it passes from one transparent material into another — for example, from air into water or glass. This makes the light change direction, or bend. The bending of light is called refraction.
Refraction is why a straw in a glass of water looks bent, and why a pool looks shallower than it really is. Lenses are curved pieces of glass or plastic that refract light. Magnifying glasses, glasses (spectacles), cameras and our own eyes use lenses to focus light.
White light, such as sunlight, is actually a mix of many colours. A triangular block of glass called a prism refracts each colour by a slightly different amount, so the colours spread out into a band called a spectrum: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.
A rainbow forms when sunlight shines into raindrops. Each drop acts like a tiny prism: the light refracts as it enters, reflects off the back of the drop and refracts again as it leaves, splitting into colours.
- Alight bouncing off a mirror
- Blight bending as it passes from one material into another
- Clight being blocked to make a shadow
- Dlight being made by a bulb
Answer: light bending as it passes from one material into another
Refraction is the bending of light when it moves between materials such as air, water and glass.
- AThe water bends the straw.
- BLight from the straw refracts as it passes from water into air.
- CThe glass is curved like a mirror.
- DWater makes the straw softer.
Answer: Light from the straw refracts as it passes from water into air.
The straw is straight. Light bends at the water's surface, so the part under water looks out of place.
- AIt disappears.
- BIt turns black.
- CIt splits into a band of colours.
- DIt becomes one colour only.
Answer: It splits into a band of colours.
Each colour bends by a different amount, so white light spreads out into a spectrum.
- Ared
- Bgreen
- Cviolet
- Dbrown
Answer: brown
The rainbow colours are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.
- Awhen it is dark and dry
- Bwhen the Sun is behind you and rain drops are in front of you
- Conly at midday in winter
- Dwhen you look straight at the Sun
Answer: when the Sun is behind you and rain drops are in front of you
Sunlight from behind you refracts and reflects inside the raindrops in front of you.
Part B: Lenses, prisms and spectrums
- a mirror
- a magnifying glass
- a prism
- refracts light to make things look bigger
- splits white light into colours
- reflects light
Answer: a mirror → reflects light; a magnifying glass → refracts light to make things look bigger; a prism → splits white light into colours
Answer: spectrum
Answer: refraction
Answer: Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet.
Answer: Reflection is light bouncing off a surface; refraction is light bending as it passes through from one material into another.
Part C: True or false?
Write True or False.
Answer: True
A prism or raindrops can split it into a spectrum.
Answer: True
This change of direction is refraction.
Answer: False
Refraction makes a pool look shallower than it really is.
Answer: True
The lens focuses light onto the back of the eye.
Part D: Working scientifically: the flipping arrow
Try this at home. Move the card closer and further away and record what you see.
Leah drew an arrow pointing right on a card and stood it behind an empty glass. She looked at it through the glass. Then she slowly filled the glass with water and looked again from the same place.
Answer: The arrow appeared to flip and point the other way.
Model answer: The glass of water acts like a curved lens. Light from the arrow refracts (bends) as it passes into and out of the water, and the light rays cross over, so the arrow looks reversed when seen through the glass.
Success criteria:
- Uses the word refraction correctly
- Says the water and glass act like a lens
- Explains that light bends so the image changes
Marking tips
- Give credit for correct method even when the final answer slips — the working shows where the thinking went right.
- For open-ended tasks, use the success criteria as a checklist rather than looking for one "right" answer.
- Celebrate what went well first, then pick one thing to work on next.