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Exploring Materials: Nano Gold
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners discover that nanoparticles of gold can appear red, orange or even blue. They learn that a material can act differently when it’s nanometer-sized.
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CD Spinner
Source Institutions
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.
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Amazing Albedo
Source Institutions
In this experiment, learners work in teams to investigate how the color of a surface influences its ability to reflect light and therefore heat.
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CD Spectroscope
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners use an old CD to construct a spectroscope, a device that separates light into its component colors.
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Morphing Butterfly
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners explore how nanosized structures can create brilliant color.
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The Blind Spot
Source Institutions
In this activity (1st on the page), learners find their blind spot--the area on the retina without receptors that respond to light.
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Vanishing Rods
Source Institutions
This is a quick activity/demonstration that introduces learners to the concept of index of refraction. Learners place stirring rods in a jar of water and notice they can see them clearly.
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Glow in the Dark Jello
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners will make homemade jello that glows under a blacklight. They will learn about quinine, an ingredient in tonic water that is fluorescent.
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See the Light
Source Institutions
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.
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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.
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Spectroscope
Source Institutions
In this activity (posted on March 12, 2011), learners follow the steps to construct a spectroscope, a tool used to analyze light and color.
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Camera Projector
Source Institutions
In this activity (posted on March 14, 2011), learners follow the steps to construct a camera projector to explore lenses and refraction.
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Why is the Sky Blue?
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners use a flashlight, a glass of water, and some milk to examine why the sky is blue and sunsets are red.
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Night Lights
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners create night lights using a plastic cup, programmable PICO Cricket, tri-color LED, and sensor.
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Three Circles of Pigments
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners overlap the three primary colors to see how all other colors are made.
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Color Contrast
Source Institutions
Do you have a hard time matching paint swatches with your furniture? When you consider human perception, color is context dependent.
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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.
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Telescoping Periscope
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners explore the many uses of periscopes and how this simple device was designed and is used in many applications.
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Mirror, Mirror
Source Institutions
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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Wandering Wands
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners construct wands that play different notes depending on information from light sensors programmed via a PICO Cricket.