OT: Odd question about the colors of the Rainbow...

[muskiesusan]

Have they changed what colors are in the rainbow? We have a really cute book, What Makes a Rainbow (has ribbon that pops out to show the different colors) and also the Signing Time DVD with a song about the rainbow colors. Both of these state red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple make up the rainbow. Is it purple now instead of indigo and violet (I learned ROY G. BIV)? Or, are they just trying to make it simplier for kids to understand?

Thanks for humoring me, it just annoys me that I think my kids are learning the wrong info!!

Edited as I typed blue instead of purple! Alex was a little too distracting when I was trying to write this.....

Susan
Mom to Nick 10/01
& Alex 04/04

[Aunt to sweet baby boy]

I think for little kids they say purple rather than indigo or violet. When i think of the rainbow song it does not have indigo or violet it has purple.

Just a thought....

Ilana

[mudder17]

Actually, the colors are Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, and Violet/Purple. Indigo is actually not a true color by scientific standards. And I think Purple is easier for kids than Violet, not because it's harder to say Violet but because a lot of things are identified as being purple rather than as being violet, so I think they just used purple to make it easier.


Eileen

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[jamsmu]

Indigo is still in the rainbow as a 7th color, but kids don't recognize it and its not included in what they are taught until about 2nd grade. Violet--purple... all the same. :)

[muskiesusan]

That's interesting they don't learn indigo until the 2nd grade. I am amazed at what Nick can understand/remember, so I guess I don't see the point in not just teaching it from the beginning! I do understand, however, using purple instead of violet.

Susan
Mom to Nick 10/01
& Alex 04/04

[mudder17]

Yes, it is interesting--so they first learn ROYGBP, and then they learn ROYGBIV in second grade, I guess it is, then in high school, they learn that I is not a true color. Hee, hee, just in case you wanted to confuse things. :)


Eileen

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[Piglet]

Not that it is the gold standard for information, but one of the questions in Cranium is about the colours of the rainbow and it explains that they have changed the standard colours so ROY G BIV is wrong. Needless to say, I got the question wrong based on my old knowledge!

[JElaineB]

Yea, I feel old. I learned Roy G Biv in my College Physics classes. I guess they *were* a long time ago. *sob*

Jennifer
mom to Jacob 9/27/02

[proggoddess]

I remember my physics teacher in HS telling me that they took Indigo out of the rainbow. But that was 12 years ago, and it was just his word.

Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow ) says:

It is commonly thought that indigo was included due to the different religious connotations of the numbers six and seven at the time of Isaac Newton's work on light, despite its lack of scientific significance and the poor ability of humans to distinguish colours in the blue portion of the visual spectrum.

A drawback to all these [nmemonic] methods is that they include the colour of indigo between blue and violet, though most modern rainbow definitions do not include that as a distinct colour, partly due to the poor ability of humans to distinguish colours in the blue portion of the visual spectrum.

[californiagirl]

There are an infinite number of colours in the rainbow; as long as you get them in spectrum order and name only pure ones, I don't see how there can be a "wrong" answer about the colours. Chartreuse and turquoise are both definitely in there... indigo has always struck me as dubious because it's usually used for a shade of blue that's much darker than anything in the rainbow.

[muskiesusan]

I graduated HS in '92 and this is whole thing about indigo is news to me! I think they need to send out updates to tell me what all has changed, lol. Either that, or I needed a new Physics teacher!


Susan
Mom to Nick 10/01
& Alex 04/04

[mudder17]

LOL, the only reason I know is because I recently taught HS physics and chemistry and it appeared in our textbooks. :D


Eileen

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Kaya's a cousin! 10/1/05, 5lb13oz

[jamsmu]

but when we teach ROYGBIV, we are teaching more than what the colors are. We're teaching about weather and what a rainbow is. So, ROY G BIV is science.

When in art class, they are using red orange yellow green blue purple, as these are the colors on the color wheel. (primaries and secondaries.)

So the rainbow depends on what it is the children are learning.

Hope that explains more about Indigo and Violet.

[cara1]

But that is a great book; we have it too!

[daisyandacorn]

I've been teaching Violet and Indigo too....the color game has consisted of looking at purple things and deciding which is which (and which are lavender). We also do shades of pink (hot, fuschia, pastel, etc)
Oh well, I'm sticking with it-way too confusing to switch at this point!
Susan

[lizamann]

This really does make a lot of sense! Cool!