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See the Light
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In this three-part activity, learners conduct simple experiments to see how light refracts and reflects, and how colors of light affect what we see.

Mix-N-Match Light
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This is an online exhibit about color perception. Learners set a random background color and then try to mix red, blue, and green light to match.

Spectroscope
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In this activity (posted on March 12, 2011), learners follow the steps to construct a spectroscope, a tool used to analyze light and color.

Laser Jello
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In this activity, learners use gelatin as a lens to investigate the properties of laser light.

CD Spectroscope
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In this activity, learners use an old CD to construct a spectroscope, a device that separates light into its component colors.

Your Father's Nose
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In this fun optics activity, learners explore principles of light, reflection (mirrors), and perception. Learners work in pairs and sit on opposite sides of a "two-way" mirror.

Rotating Light
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In this activity, learners explore what happens when polarized white light passes through a sugar solution.

Give and Take
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In this activity, learners explore liquid crystals, light and temperature. Using a postcard made of temperature-sensitive liquid crystal material, learners monitor temperature changes.

Reflections
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In this quick activity, Dracula has a hole in his house and learners help solve the problem by using a mirror and protractor to reflect incoming light out of his house.

On the Fringe (formerly Bridge Light)
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In this activity, learners trap a thin layer of air between two pieces of Plexiglas to produce rainbow-colored interference patterns.

Morphing Butterfly
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In this activity, learners explore how nanosized structures can create brilliant color.

Convection Current
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In this activity, learners make their own heat waves in an aquarium.

Colored Shadows
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In this optics activity, learners discover that not all shadows are black. Learners explore human color perception by using colored lights to make additive color mixtures.

The Geophysical Light/Dark Cycle
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This is an activity (located on page 131 of the PDF) related to sleep and circadian rhythms as well as space travel.

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.

Glow Up
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In this activity, learners explore chemiluminescence and fluorescence. Learners examine 3 different solutions in regular light, in the dark with added bleach solution, and under a black light.

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.

Globe at Night
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In this international citizen science activity, learners measure their night sky brightness and submit their observations into an online database.

Pupil to Pupil
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In this quick and simple activity about reflexes (at the top of the webpage), learners conduct a simple test to explore pupillary response.

Vanishing Rods
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This is a quick activity/demonstration that introduces learners to the concept of index of refraction. Learners place stirring rods in a jar of water and notice they can see them clearly.