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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.

In this activity (6th on the page), learners investigate how photoreceptors in the eye (rods and cones) "adapt" to low light conditions.

In this activity (1st on the page), learners find their blind spot--the area on the retina without receptors that respond to light.

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

In this activity, learners examine how colored lenses act like filters and absorb all colors of light except for the color of the lenses.

In this optics activity, learners conduct an experiment to explore peripheral vision. Learners collect data about their ability to see shapes, colors, or letters using their peripheral vision.

During this hands-on activity, learners are briefly exposed to moviemaking and animation, when they create their own thaumatropes.

In this activity (16th on the page), learners play a variation of the "I Spy" game to explore color. Learners work in teams with each team assigned a color.

In this optics activity, learners build an animation tool to make mini movies. When you spin a phenakistascope, the pictures move so quickly that your eyes and brain can't separate the images.

Design and create an optical illusion toy that makes two pictures appear to become one. This is called a thaumatrope and will allow the learner to investigate the phenomenon of persistence of vision.

This activity (aka "snack") provides instructions for discovering your blind spot. It is an exploration of light and visual perception using simple materials you may have around the house.

In this activity related to light and perception, learners use a pinhole in an index card as a magnifying glass to help their eye focus on a nearby object.

In this activity, learners will make a thaumatrope, an old-fashioned optical illusion that dates back to the 1820s.

In this activity, learners make a stroboscope--a spinning disk with slits around the edge that you look through.

In this optics activity, learners build a spy tool to secretly view things over walls or around corners.