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

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.

Shark Sense of Smell
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This is an activity about our sense of smell and how it compares to sharks' super noses. Learners will create varying solutions of water and perfume.

Pupil
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In this activity, learners explore their eye pupils and how they change.

Blind Spot
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In this activity, learners conduct a simple test to find their blind spot.

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.

Your Father's Nose
Source Institutions
In this fun optics activity, learners explore principles of light, reflection (mirrors), and perception. Learners work in pairs and sit on opposite sides of a "two-way" mirror.

Pinhole Magnifier
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In this activity related to light and perception, learners use a pinhole in an index card as a magnifying glass to help their eye focus on a nearby object.

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.

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.

Thaumatrope Illusion
Source Institutions
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.

Sliding Gray Step
Source Institutions
How can you make one shade of gray look like two? By putting it against two different color backgrounds! This activity allows learners to perform this sleight of hand very easily.

Moiré Patterns
Source Institutions
In this activity about light and perception, learners create and observe moire patterns.

Bird in the Cage
Source Institutions
In this activity about afterimages, learners explore what happens when receptor cells called cones in your eye's retina get tired.

Mix-N-Match Light
Source Institutions
This is an online exhibit about color perception. Learners set a random background color and then try to mix red, blue, and green light to match.

Big Sun, Small Moon
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Learners will explore the concept of angular distance, and investigate why the moon appears to be the same size as the sun during a solar eclipse, despite the sun being much larger.

Thread the Needle: Using Two Eyes Gives You Depth Perception
Source Institutions
Closing one eye eliminates one of the clues that your brain uses to judge depth. Trying to perform a simple task with one eye closed demonstrates how much you rely on your depth perception.

Cafe Wall Illusion
Source Institutions
In this fun and interactive online exhibit, the straight lines of a tile wall appear to curve. The learner moves the rows of tiles and changes the color of the grout to achieve the intriguing effect.

Benham’s Disk
Source Institutions
In this activity (on page 2 of the PDF under GPS: Light and Color Activity), learners will see the illusion of colors produced by a rotating black and white image known as Benham’s Disk.