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Light Quest
Source Institutions
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
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).

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.

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.

Soap-Film Interference Model: Get on our wavelength!
Source Institutions
By making models of light waves with paper, learners can understand why different colors appear in bubbles.

CD Spectrometer
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners use a compact disc to make a spectrometer, an instrument used to measure properties of light.
The Ripple Tank
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In this optics activity, learners create a ripple tank from household materials to study waves. Learners build the tank and then explore by making various types of waves.

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

Moiré Patterns
Source Institutions
In this activity about light and perception, learners create and observe moire patterns.

Soap Bubble Shapes
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Learners explore three-dimensional geometric frames including cubes and tetrahedrons, as they create bubble wands with pipe cleaners and drinking straws.

Diffraction
Source Institutions
In this optics activity, demonstrate diffraction using a candle or a small bright flashlight bulb and a slide made with two pencils.

Big Wave
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This is an activity about waves. Using marbles, paper clips and rubber bands, learners explore how waves behave.

Reflecting Rainbows: Decorate Your White Walls With Rainbow Colors!
Source Institutions
Like water drops in falling rain, a CD separates white light into all the colors that make it up.

Bubble Tray
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners use simple materials to create giant bubbles.

What is Nanotechnology?
Source Institutions
In this activity related to nanotechnology, learners observe some of the effects that result from creating a thin layer of material several nanometers thick.

Spectroscope
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners construct their own spectroscope as they explore and observe spectra from familiar light sources.

Iridescent Art
Source Institutions
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.

Structure of Matter: Pigment vs. Iridescence
Source Institutions
This is an activity (located on page 3 of the PDF under Butterfly Wings Activity) about how visible light is affected by tiny nanoscale structures, producing iridescence on butterfly wings, soap bubbl

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