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In this activity, learners create a colorful bookmark using a super thin layer of nail polish on water. Learners discover that a thin film creates iridescent, rainbow colors.

In this quick optics activity, learners use a dim point of light (a disassembled Mini MagLite and dowel set-up) to cast a shadow of the blood supply in their retina onto the retina itself.

Make a big canvas of iridescent color with pvc pipe! In this Exploratorium Science Snack, you'll need to cut and assemble some PVC pipe, but the pay-off, the soap-bubble canvas, is big.

Align four color transparencies, each one a single color (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black), and see a beautiful full color image.

In this activity about light and perception, learners create pictures in thin air.

In this optics activity, learners experiment with polarizers (small dark rectangles) to examine light intensity.

In this activity, learners explore the invisible infrared radiation from an electric heater.

Are there boxes, is this an illusion, or is this real life Q-bert? Illusions are always fun to build especially when you can build them.

In this optics activity, learners explore how light bends and affects what we see.

Learners use two mirrors to explore how images of images of images can repeat forever.

Learners test their "light-smarts" by playing a game called "Light Quest!" The game board represents an atom and each player represents an electron that has been bumped into the atom's outer unstable

In this activity about light, learners explore how water can refract light and change the way they see things.

“Exploring Earth: Investigating Clouds” is a hands-on activity in which visitors create a cloud in a bottle and explore it with laser light.

The beautiful iridescent colors of a bubble in a can! With this Exploratorium Science Snack, create beautiful soap films on the open end of a can to see beautiful rainbows of color.

In this optics activity, learners work in pairs to explore how mirrors work. Learners use tape to mark the angles needed to see each other's reflection in a wall mirror.

In this activity, learners explore the relative efficiency of different bulbs, specifically incandescent vs. fluorescent.

This is a quick activity (on page 2 of the PDF under Stained Glass Activity) about the "Tyndall effect," the scattering of visible light when it hits very small dispersed particles.

In this activity, learners make a solar oven. Learners witness the awesome power of the sun to make a yummy treat--a chocolate chip cookie!

In this optics activity, learners examine how a transparent material such as glass or water can actually reflect light better than any mirror.

In this activity, learners build inexpensive kaleidoscopes using transparency paper and foil (instead of mirrors).