Mr. Bustard took a triangular shaped bar of glass from his
briefcase. “Does anyone know what this is?" he asked as the four children
in his class examined it.
“Is it a mirror?" asked Anisa.
“No, it's not a mirror;” replied Mr. Bustard.
“It's a paperweight,” answered Nabil.
“No, it's not that. Do you have any idea what it is, Phillip
or Sarah?"
They both shook their heads.
“This is called a prism. Can anyone guess what a prism
does?"
Phillip raised his hand. “A prism is where they put people
who break the law,” He giggled at his joke.
Mr. Bustard laughed too. “That's very funny, Phillip, but
that's a ‘prison' not a ‘prism'." He spoke the two words distinctly so the
children could hear the different sound. “A prism is used to separate light
into different colors. Did you know that the light coming from this lamp
contains all the colors of the rainbow?” He positioned the prism near the lamp
and tilted it so it caught a ray of light. A rainbow of colors suddenly
appeared on the opposite side. He held up a piece of white cardboard on which
to reflect the different colors. The children were fascinated.