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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.

In this activity, learners explore what happens when polarized white light passes through a sugar solution.

In this activity, learners investigate color vision as well as plan and conduct their own experiments.

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

In this activity, learners use a simple trick of perspective to dress friends in tiny cutout clothing. Learners make tiny pants out of card stock and tape them to the end of a stick.

In this activity, learners investigate parallax, a method used to measure distances to stars and planets in the solar system.

In this activity, learners investigate visual perception as well as plan and conduct their own experiments.

In this activity, learners construct three optical illusion toys to examine how our brains play tricks on what we see.

In this online activity, learners make a whole rainbow by mixing red, green, and blue light. They can change the wavelength of a monochromatic beam or they can filter white light.

In this activity (posted on March 20, 2011), learners follow the steps to construct a stroboscope, a device that exploits the persistence of vision to make moving objects appear slow or stationary.

In this activity, learners experience firsthand how marine animals' adaptive coloration camouflages them from prey.

Discover how a refracting telescope works by making one from scratch using common items. This telescope won't have a tube so the learner can see how an image is formed inside the telescope.

In this activity (posted on March 14, 2011), learners follow the steps to construct a camera projector to explore lenses and refraction.

In this optics activity, learners discover that not all shadows are black. Learners explore human color perception by using colored lights to make additive color mixtures.

In this quick activity, Dracula has a hole in his house and learners help solve the problem by using a mirror and protractor to reflect incoming light out of his house.

Have you ever heard of a camera without a lens? In this activity, learners create a pinhole camera out of simple materials. They'll see the world in a whole new way: upside down and backwards!

In this activity about light and perception, learners discover how a flash of light can create a lingering image called an "afterimage" on the retina of the eye.

If you have lights, cardboard, scissors, and some brass fasteners, you can make shadow puppets! Create a story-telling and design challenge for your learners with this simple and creative activity.

In this activity, learners explore the many uses of periscopes and how this simple device was designed and is used in many applications.

In this activity about vision and optical illusions, learners conduct a simple test to demonstrate how our eyes create "afterimages." Learners stare at a black cardboard bat for at least 30 seconds an