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In this activity, learners explore the many uses of periscopes and how this simple device was designed and is used in many applications.

In this activity, learners test the Law of Reflection based on experimental evidence. Learners produce raw data and explanations based on their data: pencil tracings of incident and reflection rays.

Make a cuíca (“kwee-ka”), a traditional Brazilian musical instrument that originated in Africa. Played primarily in Brazil, now you can play it at home, too, with this Exploratorium produced activity.

In this activity, learners set up an experiment to investigate the effects of hot air on the path of a laser beam.

In this activity, learners construct their own spectroscope as they explore and observe spectra from familiar light sources.

In this design challenge activity, learners build a four-stringed instrument that can play a tune.

In this activity, learners construct a traditional handicraft toy that illustrates a motion commonly associated with violins and earthquakes.

In this activity about the solar system, learners use various light sources to examine ice with different components to understand how NASA studies planets and moons from space.

In this activity, learners construct wands that play different notes depending on information from light sensors programmed via a PICO Cricket.

In this design challenge activity, learners design and build a solar hot water heater. Their goal is to create a heater that yields the highest temperature change.

Have you ever heard of a camera without a lens? In this activity, learners create a pinhole camera out of simple materials. They'll see the world in a whole new way: upside down and backwards!

In this activity, learners build their own sound machines and explore the interplay of motion and sound.

With a bit of PVC, a laser, a can/cup, and a small mirror, you can make a device that visualizes you voice or any sound transmitted into the cup/can.

In this activity, learners construct three optical illusion toys to examine how our brains play tricks on what we see.

In this optics activity, learners use glass and water to demonstrate total internal reflection (TIR).

In this physical sciences activity, learners explore how passive solar design increases energy efficiency.

In this activity (posted on April 18, 2011), learners follow the steps to construct a zoetrope, a device that produces an illusion of action from a rapid succession of static pictures, using a 16" bik

This is a virtual representation of a sound mixer containing pre-looped sounds of animal, insect, and environmental noises.

In this activity on page 5 of the PDF, learners compare water with artificial urine to see how urinalysis works. Learners use urinalysis test strips to test for glucose and protein in the fake urine.

This is a hands-on activity exploring how nanoscale particles are used in mineral sunblocks to increase their transparency.