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Soap-Film Interference Model: Get on our wavelength!
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By making models of light waves with paper, learners can understand why different colors appear in bubbles.
Exploring the Universe: Filtered Light
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"Exploring the Universe: Filtered Light" demonstrates how scientists can use telescopes and other tools to capture and filter different energies of light to study the universe.
Paint by the Numbers
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In this pencil and paper activity, learners work in pairs and simulate how astronomical spacecraft and computers create images of objects in space.
Mini Zoetrope
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In this activity (posted on March 27, 2011), learners follow the steps to construct a mini zoetrope, a device that produces an illusion of action from a rapid succession of static pictures.
What Causes Rainbows?
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In this activity, learners explore how and why rainbows form by creating rainbows in a variety of ways using simple materials. Learners create rainbows indoors and outdoors.
Shadow Puppets
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In this activity, learners will create their own simple shadow puppets, and experiment with light and shadow while playing with them.
Why is the Sky Blue?
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In this activity, learners use a flashlight, a glass of water, and some milk to examine why the sky is blue and sunsets are red.
Persistence of Vision
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If you had a long tube with a 5 millimeter wide slit, would you see the entire Golden Gate Bridge?
Disappearing Glass Rods
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In this optics activity, learners discover how they can make glass objects "disappear." Learners submerge glass objects like stirring rods into a beaker of Wesson™ oil to explore how the principles of
Transparent Gelatin
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In this optics activity, learners explore how they can make gelatin stop light, but not stop them from seeing fruit suspended within.
Color Contrast
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Do you have a hard time matching paint swatches with your furniture? When you consider human perception, color is context dependent.
Shadow Puppets
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If you have lights, cardboard, scissors, and some brass fasteners, you can make shadow puppets! Create a story-telling and design challenge for your learners with this simple and creative activity.
Splitting White Light
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In this optics activity, learners split white light into all its component colors using three household items: a compact disc, dishwashing liquid, and a hose (outside).
Afterimage
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In this activity about vision and optical illusions, learners conduct a simple test to demonstrate how our eyes create "afterimages." Learners stare at a black cardboard bat for at least 30 seconds an
Color Table: Color your perception
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Look at pictures through different color filters and you'll see them in a new way. People have used color filters in beautiful photography or sending secret messages.
Circles or Ovals?
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This science activity demonstrates the dominant eye phenomena. What does your brain do when it sees two images that conflict?
Make Money Appear Before Your Eyes
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In this optics activity, learners use water to make a coin "appear" and "disappear." Use this activity to demonstrate how light refracts and introduce light as waves.
Rainbow in the Room
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This activity generates learner excitement about light through the creation of a room-sized rainbow.
Bending Light
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In this optics activity, learners make a lens and explore how the eye manipulates the light that enters it.
Bring it into Focus
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In this activity (page 2 of PDF), learners play with a lens and a piece of paper to focus an image on the paper. Learners look at different things, and see how the lenses affect the image.