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In this activity, learners observe what happens when they give a light source like a neon glow lamp a "Bronx Cheer." The lights appear to wiggle back and forth and flicker when learners blow air throu

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.

In this activity, learners explore why the sky is blue. Learners model the scattering of light by the atmosphere, which creates the blue sky and red sunset, using a flashlight and clear glue sticks.

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.

In this activity, learners explore why they can see colors in bubbles and why they change.

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 optics activity, learners make a "light fountain" from a clear plastic bottle, flashlight, and other simple materials.

In this activity about light and reflection, learners use a special device called a Mirage Maker™ to create an illusion.

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.

In this activity about light and reflection, learners discover that what you see is often affected by what you expect to see.

In this optics activity, learners explore how they can make gelatin stop light, but not stop them from seeing fruit suspended within.

Do you have a hard time matching paint swatches with your furniture? When you consider human perception, color is context dependent.

In this optics activity, learners examine how polarized light can reveal stress patterns in clear plastic.

In this trick, hold your hand over a burning candle without getting burned, by reflecting and transmitting the light of two candles. This activity is best suited as a demonstration.

In this optics activity, learners explore diffraction by adding wax blocks to a ripple tank. The wedge-shaped blocks act as obstacles that the wave must bend around.

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.

In this activity, learners discover that it's difficult to distinguish between two different shades of gray when they aren't separated by a boundary.

This fun and simple hands-on astronomy activity illustrates the path of light as it reflects off of mirrors and how this is used in telescopes.

In this optics activity, learners make a lens and explore how the eye manipulates the light that enters it.