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In this activity about light and refraction, learners make a lens and magnifying glass by filling a bowl with water.

In this optics activity, learners use a shoebox, colored cellophane and sunlight to "change" the colors of gumballs. Learners will be surprised when the green and blue gumballs appear black!

In this activity, learners investigate the reflective properties of light and mirrors as they make a kaleidoscope.

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

In this activity, learners trap a thin layer of air between two pieces of Plexiglas to produce rainbow-colored interference patterns.

In this activity about light and perception, learners create and observe moire patterns.

In this activity, learners explore how polarizing sunglasses can help diminish road glare.

In this activity, young learners will explore light and darkness through flashlight play.

In this group activity, learners see and hear the speed of sound. A learner designated the "gonger" hits a gong, once every second, as the rest of the group watches and listens from a distance.

In this activity, learners use simple materials to create giant bubbles.

In this activity, learners create a cylindrical mirror to see themselves as others see them.

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

This is a quick activity (on page 2 of the PDF under Butterfly Wings Activity) that illustrates how nanoscale structures, so small they're practically invisible, can produce visible/colorful effects.

An ordinary camera has a lens that makes an image on film. In a pinhole camera, a small hole replaces the lens.

In this optics activity, learners discover that when they rotate a special black and white pattern called a Benham's Disk, it produces the illusion of colored rings.

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 (1st activity on the page), learners explore their sense of taste and the structure of the tongue by taste-testing various foods.

This fun activity uses simple materials such as milk cartons and mirrors to introduce the ideas of optics and visual perception.

This is an activity about turbidity, or the amount of sediment suspended in water.