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Exploring the Universe: Filtered Light
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"Exploring the Universe: Filtered Light" demonstrates how scientists can use telescopes and other tools to capture and filter different energies of light to study the universe.

Make a Light Fountain
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In this optics activity, learners make a "light fountain" from a clear plastic bottle, flashlight, and other simple materials.

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.

Oil Spot Photometer
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In this math activity related to light, learners assemble a photometer and use it to estimate the power output of the Sun.

Pinhole Viewer
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In this activity, learners discuss and investigate how cameras, telescopes, and their own eyes use light in similar ways.

Magic Wand
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In this activity about light and perception, learners create pictures in thin air.

Exploring the Universe: Exoplanet Transits
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In "Exploring the Universe: Exoplanet Transits," participants simulate one of the methods scientists use to discover planets orbiting distant stars.

Make a Garbage Bag Kite
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Make a kite out of a garbage bag, shower curtain, painting tarp--anything light, thin, flexible and plastic!

Critical Angle
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In this optics activity, learners examine how a transparent material such as glass or water can actually reflect light better than any mirror.

Paint by the Numbers
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In this pencil and paper activity, learners work in pairs and simulate how astronomical spacecraft and computers create images of objects in space.

Code Cracker
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Whether it's the genetic code, an ancient language, or patterns of light in a distant galaxy, scientists often have to play the role of decoder.

Paper Cutting
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In this activity about scale, learners investigate the world of the very small by cutting a 28 centimeter strip of paper in half as many times as they can.

Bring it into Focus
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In this activity (page 2 of PDF), learners play with a lens and a piece of paper to focus an image on the paper. Learners look at different things, and see how the lenses affect the image.

Penny Battery
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In this activity, learners light an LED with five cents. Learners use two different metals and some sour, salty water to create a cheap battery.

Where Do We Choose to Live and Why?
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In this geography investigation, learners use a nighttime satellite image to observe areas of light across the United States and to identify patterns and spatial distributions of human settlements.

Mini Zoetrope
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In this activity (posted on March 27, 2011), learners follow the steps to construct a mini zoetrope, a device that produces an illusion of action from a rapid succession of static pictures.