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

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

In this activity (13th on the page), learners complete a simple illusion trick to see through their own hand.

In this activity, learners make a Benham Top to explore visual illusions and optics.

In this exercise (Activity #2 on page), learners test their distance vision to evaluate their overall eyesight.

In this lab (Activity #1 on page), learners explore how we see color.

In this activity, learners use pop-beads to understand the characteristics and properties of polymer chains.

In this activity (1st on the page), learners find their blind spot--the area on the retina without receptors that respond to light.

In this activity (6th on the page), learners investigate how photoreceptors in the eye (rods and cones) "adapt" to low light conditions.

In this activity, learners calculate the width (horizontal diameter) of the blind spot on their retina. Learners make a blind spot tester using a piece of notebook paper.

In this easy demonstration (3rd on the page), learners explore depth perception by conducting a test with two pencils.

These two activities (4th on the page) demonstrate the importance of two eyes in judging depth.