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Stereoscope
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In this activity, learners construct a device that allows them to view 2-D images in 3-D.

Fading Dot
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In this activity, learners play with a fuzzy-colored dot that has no distinct edges seems to disappear. As learners stare at the dot, its color appears to blend with the colors surrounding it.

Penny Cup Game
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In this optics activity, learners conduct an experiment to find out why two eyes are better than one!

Motion Picture
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During this hands-on activity, learners are briefly exposed to moviemaking and animation, when they create their own thaumatropes.

Magic Disc
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In this activity, learners create an optical illusion by spinning two attached cups. A round ball seems to magically appear when the cups spin.

Make Money Appear Before Your Eyes
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In this optics activity, learners use water to make a coin "appear" and "disappear." Use this activity to demonstrate how light refracts and introduce light as waves.

Thaumatrope Illusion
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Design and create an optical illusion toy that makes two pictures appear to become one. This is called a thaumatrope and will allow the learner to investigate the phenomenon of persistence of vision.

Butterfly Life Cycle Optical Illusion
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This activity is a fun way to show two stages in a Monarch butterfly's life cycle. Learners will create an optical illusion that can be flipped from caterpillar to butterfly.

Bring it into Focus
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In this activity (page 2 of PDF), learners play with a lens and a piece of paper to focus an image on the paper. Learners look at different things, and see how the lenses affect the image.

Arrows
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In this activity, learners surprise their eyes with an optical illusion involving arrows made out of pipe cleaners.

Tiny Pants Photo Challenge
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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.

Thaumatropes
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In this activity, learners will make a thaumatrope, an old-fashioned optical illusion that dates back to the 1820s.

Spinning Cylinder: Make a triangle appear on a spinning wheel
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Spin a short piece of PVC pipe that's been marked up, and watch a triangle appear. Enjoy this optical illusion from the Exploratorium's Science Snack series.