Search Results

In this activity, learners use an old CD to construct a spectroscope, a device that separates light into its component colors.

In this activity, learners will make their own prism and use a glass of water to separate sunlight into different colors.

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

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

In this optics activity, learners examine how a transparent material such as glass or water can actually reflect light better than any mirror.

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.

Can gelatin (like Jell-O ®) change the speed of light?

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.

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

In this activity, learners make their own heat waves in an aquarium.

This hands-on astronomy activity allows you to create a “cutaway” telescope to clearly show how reflector and refractor telescopes work.

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.

In this activity, learners set up an experiment to investigate the effects of hot air on the path of a laser beam.

Learners experiment with water gel crystals, or sodium polyacrylate crystals, which absorb hundreds of times their weight in water. When in pure water, the water gel crystals cannot be seen.

In this demonstration (18th on the page), learners conduct a simple test to explore how the cornea refracts light, which is further bent by the eye lens through a process known as accommodation.

In this activity, learners use gelatin as a lens to investigate the properties of laser light.

In this activity, learners use a laser pointer, empty soda bottle, rubber plug and water to demonstrate total internal reflection.

In this activity, learners make prisms from gelatin. Learners then shine light through the prisms and discover what happens. This activity introduces learners to the idea of refraction.

With a laser pointer and some household items, learners can create their own laser light show. They can explore diffuse reflection, refraction and diffraction.