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The Old White Sheet Trick: Light and Insect Behavior
Source Institutions
In this outdoor, nighttime activity, learners gather around a brightly lit, white surface and study the behavior of nocturnal animals attracted to the light, particularly night fliers.
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Why is the Sky Purple?
Source Institutions
This simple hands-on activity demonstrates why the sky appears blue on a sunny day and red during sunrise and sunset.
Light on Other Planets
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In this math-based activity, learners model the intensity of light at various distances from a light source, and understand how astronomers measure the amount of sunlight that hits our planet and othe
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Luminescence
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In this two-part activity about luminescence, learners explore the chemistry that happens inside glow sticks and other light producing reactions.
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Liquid Crystals Interact with Light!
Source Institutions
In this two-part activity, learners explore the properties of liquid crystals, which are responsible for why mood rings change color.
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Water Illusions: Refraction & Magnification
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Learners demonstrate how water can distort, refract and magnify light.
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Transit Tracks
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In this space science activity, learners explore transits and the conditions when a transit may be seen.
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Kaleidoscope
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In this activity, learners build inexpensive kaleidoscopes using transparency paper and foil (instead of mirrors).
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Colors of Stars
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In this activity, learners observe colors in the flame of a burning candle to explore connections between matter, light, color and temperature -- basic concepts of matter and energy.
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Mirror, Mirror
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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.
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Iridescent Art
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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.
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How Our Environment Affects Color Vision
Source Institutions
In this lab (Activity #1 on page), learners explore how we see color.
Multiple Reflections
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners explore how mirrors reflect light and change the way we see things.
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Underwater Hide and Seek
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In this activity, learners experience firsthand how marine animals' adaptive coloration camouflages them from prey.
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Hot Air
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In this activity, learners set up an experiment to investigate the effects of hot air on the path of a laser beam.
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How does the Atmosphere keep the Earth Warmer?
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners simulate the energy transfer between the earth and space by using the light from a desk lamp desk lamp with an incandescent bulb and a stack of glass plates.
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Sensory Hi-Lo Hunt
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In this outdoor activity, learners use only their senses to to find the extremes of several environmental variables or physical factors: wind, temperature, light, slope and moisture.
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Wire Maze
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Learners create an electrical-circuit maze out of wire, then try to pass a paperclip through the maze without touching the wire.
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Can Energy be Created or Destroyed?
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners explore conservation of energy by experimenting with a solar cell light device.
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Round, Light and Hollow
Source Institutions
In this activity about bones (page 12 of PDF), learners investigate and compare the weight-bearing capacity of solid and hollow cylinders.