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CD Spinner
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In this activity, learners create a simple “top” from a CD, marble and bottle cap, and use it as a spinning platform for a variety of illusion-generating patterns.
Rotating Light
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In this activity, learners explore what happens when polarized white light passes through a sugar solution.
Touch the Spring (Lightbulb)
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In this activity, a lightbulb is placed in front of a concave mirror. The actual lightbulb is not visible to the viewer, but the viewer can see the mirror image of the lightbulb formed in space.
Our Sense of Sight: Color Vision
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In this activity, learners investigate color vision as well as plan and conduct their own experiments.
Spherical Reflections
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In this art meets science activity, learners pack silver, ball-shaped ornaments in a single layer in a box to create an array of spherical reflectors.
Blind Spot
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In this activity, learners conduct a simple test to find their blind spot.
Water Sphere Lens
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In this activity about light and refraction, learners make a lens and magnifying glass by filling a bowl with water.
Seeing Your Retina
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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.
Magic Wand
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In this activity about light and perception, learners create pictures in thin air.
Introduction to the New Chain Gang
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In this activity, learners use pop-beads to understand the characteristics and properties of polymer chains.
See It to Believe It: Visual Discrimination
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In this activity (12th on the page), learners investigate their ability to discriminate (see) different colors.
Dark Adaptation
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In this activity (6th on the page), learners investigate how photoreceptors in the eye (rods and cones) "adapt" to low light conditions.
Measuring Your Blind Spot
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In this activity, learners calculate the width (horizontal diameter) of the blind spot on their retina. Learners make a blind spot tester using a piece of notebook paper.
The Blind Spot
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In this activity (1st on the page), learners find their blind spot--the area on the retina without receptors that respond to light.
Stereoscope
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In this activity, learners construct a device that allows them to view 2-D images in 3-D.
Kaleidoscope
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In this activity, learners build inexpensive kaleidoscopes using transparency paper and foil (instead of mirrors).
Parabolas: It's All Done with Mirrors
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In this activity about light and reflection, learners use a special device called a Mirage Maker™ to create an illusion.
Diffraction
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In this optics activity, demonstrate diffraction using a candle or a small bright flashlight bulb and a slide made with two pencils.
Upside-Down Town
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In this activity, learners explore ray optics. Learners discover that they can use a magnifying glass to create an upside-down image.
Bird in the Cage
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In this activity about afterimages, learners explore what happens when receptor cells called cones in your eye's retina get tired.