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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.

Create 3D glasses and use them to explore color, light and optics. Fool your brain into 'seeing' three dimensions on a flat surface!

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 activity, learners create a traditional Mexican noisemaker (a matraca) using cardboard, craft sticks, and a wooden dowel.

In this activity, learners use a flexible magnet as a model for a scanning probe microscope (SPM). They learn that SPMs are an example of a special tool that scientists use to work on the nanoscale.

In this activity, learners explore how the power of the sun can be harnessed to heat and cool a building.

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 explore how musical instruments are engineered.

In this activity, learners explore how nanosized structures can create brilliant color.

In this activity, learners experiment and observe how the color of materials that cover the Earth affects the amounts of sunlight our planet absorbs.

In this activity/demo about piezoelectricity, learners discover how some crystals produce electricity when squeezed.

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

Did you know that a Slinky makes a handy model of earthquake waves?

In this activity, learners create a colorful bookmark using a super thin layer of nail polish on water. Learners discover that a thin film creates iridescent, rainbow colors.

Make a big canvas of iridescent color with pvc pipe! In this Exploratorium Science Snack, you'll need to cut and assemble some PVC pipe, but the pay-off, the soap-bubble canvas, is big.

Are there boxes, is this an illusion, or is this real life Q-bert? Illusions are always fun to build especially when you can build them.

Make your own speaker with a magnet, wire, and paper cup! If you have a radio with a headphone plug and an old pair of headphones, this is a great tinkering activity.

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