Why Is the Sky Blue?
Look up, but not at the sun! The sky is blue. Why is it blue, and not green or pink?
Sunlight looks white. But it is really every color of the rainbow. The colors are mixed together.
After rain, you might see a rainbow. Hold on to that: it shows the colors sunlight hides. A rainbow is sunlight spread into its colors.
Light travels in waves, like ripples on a pond. Blue ripples are close together. Red ripples are far apart.
Sunlight flies into the air around Earth. Air is full of tiny bits too small to see. They bounce the light in every direction.
Blue waves are short, so they bounce the most. Red waves are long, so they slip through.
So blue light comes from all over the sky. Look anywhere, and it finds your eyes. The whole sky looks blue.
Violet light bounces a lot, too. But our eyes see violet less well than blue.
At sunset, the sun is low. Its light crosses a lot of air to reach you.
On that long trip, most blue bounces away. The reds and yellows come straight to you.
So a sunset glows red and yellow. The blue did not vanish. It bounced away.
Next time the sun sets, watch the sky. Where did the blue go?
Questions
- Only blue
- All the rainbow colors
- Only white
- Red
- Green
- Blue
- The sea turns red
- The blue has bounced away
- The sun gets cold
- Bounces it around
- Hides it
- Freezes it
- The sea
- The clouds
- The air
- Violet is gone
- Our eyes see blue better
- Violet is too heavy
Words to know
- bounce: spring back
- waves: light's ripples
- rainbow: bent-light colors
- violet: purple color
- sunset: end of day
Answer key: Why Is the Sky Blue?
- B. All the rainbow colors
- C. Blue
- B. The blue has bounced away
- A. Bounces it around
- C. The air
- B. Our eyes see blue better
The story in pictures
- Part One · Sunlight in the Air
- Part Two · Violet and Sunset
For the teacher: how this passage is levelled
“Why Is the Sky Blue?” is a reading level 7 story. Every Peabody story at this level is written and checked to keep sentences to 10 words or fewer, to aim at an average of 6 words a sentence, and to show 12 to 30 words on a screen. At most 8% of its words may be off the familiar-word list. Children in 3rd grade start at this level.
| This passage | 218 words, 12 screens, 6 multiple-choice questions with an answer key, and 5 vocabulary words with kid-sized meanings |
|---|---|
| Longest sentence at this level | 10 words |
| Words on a screen | 12 to 30 |
| Skills practised at this level | phonics (sounding words out), sight words, spelling |
Reading level 7: the limits, a real sample and the free games. Peabody is a learning app, not an assessment: use the questions to talk about the story, not to grade a child.