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Soap Bubble Shapes
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Learners explore three-dimensional geometric frames including cubes and tetrahedrons, as they create bubble wands with pipe cleaners and drinking straws.
Film Canister Farming
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In this hands-on botany activity, learners sprout vegetables in film canisters.
Make a Prism
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In this activity, learners will make their own prism and use a glass of water to separate sunlight into different colors.
Exploring Materials: Thin Films
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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.
Seeing Your Retina
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In this quick optics activity, learners use a dim point of light (a disassembled Mini MagLite and dowel set-up) to cast a shadow of the blood supply in their retina onto the retina itself.
Mini Zoetrope
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In this activity (posted on March 27, 2011), learners follow the steps to construct a mini zoetrope, a device that produces an illusion of action from a rapid succession of static pictures.
Shadow Puppets
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In this activity, learners will create their own simple shadow puppets, and experiment with light and shadow while playing with them.
Slide Projector Activities
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This resource contains several mini-explorations using a slide projector as a light source to investigate light and the properties of images.
Writing for Night Vision
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In this activity (page 1 of the PDF under SciGirls Activity: Forensics), learners will use a home video camera with a “night vision” mode to test how various inks appear outside the spectrum of visibl
Pringles Pinhole Camera
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An ordinary camera has a lens that makes an image on film. In a pinhole camera, a small hole replaces the lens.
Light Maze
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In this activity, learners will explore light with reflective surfaces. Learners will make predictions and share their observations as they experiment with directing a beam of light.
Up Periscope!
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This activity provides instructions for building a mirrored tube--a smaller and simpler version of a submarine's periscope--that lets you see around corners and over walls.
On the Fringe (formerly Bridge Light)
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In this activity, learners trap a thin layer of air between two pieces of Plexiglas to produce rainbow-colored interference patterns.
Turbidity
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This is an activity about turbidity, or the amount of sediment suspended in water.
Measure the Sun's Size
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In this activity, learners make their own pinhole viewer in order to measure the size of the sun.
Pictures From Light
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Did you know that using a lens one can bend light to make pictures of the world? It's true!
Bubbularium: See the Colors in Bubbles
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With little more than a flashlight, a straw, and a plastic lid, make an observatory so you can see the amazing colors in bubbles.
The Old White Sheet Trick: Light and Insect Behavior
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In this outdoor, nighttime activity, learners gather around a brightly lit, white surface and study the behavior of nocturnal animals attracted to the light, particularly night fliers.
Pearlescent Pigments
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This is written as a display, but can easily be adapted to a hands-on activity. Learners observe and shake containers of shiny liquids.
Opti-Top
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In this activity, learners will create an optical illusion top. Learners will explore color mixing, physics and design through this activity.