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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.
Light Quest
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Learners test their "light-smarts" by playing a game called "Light Quest!" The game board represents an atom and each player represents an electron that has been bumped into the atom's outer unstable
Water Sphere Lens
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In this activity about light and refraction, learners make a lens and magnifying glass by filling a bowl with water.
Polarized Light
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In this optics activity, learners experiment with polarizers (small dark rectangles) to examine light intensity.
Splitting White Light
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In this optics activity, learners split white light into all its component colors using three household items: a compact disc, dishwashing liquid, and a hose (outside).
Bent Toward Science: Refraction
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This is an activity about the behavior of light. Using simple, everyday objects, learners will discover that light moves in straight lines until acted upon by another object.
Make a Green Gumball Black
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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!
Transparent Gelatin
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In this optics activity, learners explore how they can make gelatin stop light, but not stop them from seeing fruit suspended within.
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.
Light and Sound
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In this four-part activity, learners explore light and sound through a variety of hands-on investigations.
The Bent Pencil
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In this optics activity, learners explore how light bends and affects what we see.
Make Money Appear Before Your Eyes
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In this optics activity, learners use water to make a coin "appear" and "disappear." Use this activity to demonstrate how light refracts and introduce light as waves.
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
Laser Jello
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In this activity, learners use gelatin as a lens to investigate the properties of laser light.
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.
Polarized Light Mosaic
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In this activity, learners use transparent tape and polarizing material to create and project beautifully colored patterns reminiscent of abstract or geometric stained glass windows--no glass required
Three Circles of Pigments
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In this activity, learners overlap the three primary colors to see how all other colors are made.
Release the Rainbow
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In this activity, learners create a water prism to break light into the seven colors of the rainbow.
Bending Light
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In this optics activity, learners make a lens and explore how the eye manipulates the light that enters it.
Guiding Light
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In this optics activity, learners use glass and water to demonstrate total internal reflection (TIR).