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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.

CD Spinner
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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.

Touch the Spring (Lightbulb)
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In this activity, a lightbulb is placed in front of a concave mirror. The actual lightbulb is not visible to the viewer, but the viewer can see the mirror image of the lightbulb formed in space.

Mirrors and Images
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In this optics activity, learners explore how many objects they can see in a set of mirrors (hinged like a book) at various angles.

Bronx Cheer Bulb
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In this activity, learners observe what happens when they give a light source like a neon glow lamp a "Bronx Cheer." The lights appear to wiggle back and forth and flicker when learners blow air throu

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

Views From Windows
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In this activity, learners use their imaginations and picture a scene in their heads.

Cylindrical Mirror
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In this activity, learners create a cylindrical mirror to see themselves as others see them.

Iridescent Art
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This is a quick activity (on page 2 of the PDF under Butterfly Wings Activity) that illustrates how nanoscale structures, so small they're practically invisible, can produce visible/colorful effects.

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.
Polarized Light
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In this optics activity, learners experiment with polarizers (small dark rectangles) to examine light intensity.
Mix and Match
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In this optics activity, learners explore color by examining color dots through colored water and the light of a flashlight.

Look Into Infinity
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Learners use two mirrors to explore how images of images of images can repeat forever.

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: Angles of Reflection
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In this optics activity, learners work in pairs to explore how mirrors work. Learners use tape to mark the angles needed to see each other's reflection in a wall mirror.

Beam Me Up!
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This is a quick activity (on page 2 of the PDF under Stained Glass Activity) about the "Tyndall effect," the scattering of visible light when it hits very small dispersed particles.

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

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

Kaleidoscope
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In this activity, learners build inexpensive kaleidoscopes using transparency paper and foil (instead of mirrors).

Paint by the Numbers
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In this pencil and paper activity, learners work in pairs and simulate how astronomical spacecraft and computers create images of objects in space.

Parabolas: It's All Done with Mirrors
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In this activity about light and reflection, learners use a special device called a Mirage Maker™ to create an illusion.