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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.

Physics in a Glass: Reversing Arrows
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In this simple activity, learners investigate refraction by placing a picture of an arrow behind a glass of water.

Hole in Your Hand
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Create an illusion where it appears that your hand has a hole in it. You'll see the results from when one eye gets conflicting information.

Far-Out Corners
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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.
The Bent Pencil
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In this optics activity, learners explore how light bends and affects what we see.

Ambiguous Cube
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In this activity, learners construct a three-dimensional ambiguous cube to explore visual illusions and how our brains interpret or misinterpret information.

Vanishing Rods
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This is a quick activity/demonstration that introduces learners to the concept of index of refraction. Learners place stirring rods in a jar of water and notice they can see them clearly.

Jacques Cousteau in Seashells
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Up close, an array of dots could look random, but take a step back, and an image forms. By tracing over an image, learners can create their own dot based image.

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.
Moving Pictures
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In this optics activity, learners create flip books by drawing an image like an eye opening and closing on 24 small pages of paper.

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!

Size and Distance
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In this activity about depth perception, learners create an optical illusion in a shoe box.

Disappearing Glass Rods
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In this optics activity, learners discover how they can make glass objects "disappear." Learners submerge glass objects like stirring rods into a beaker of Wesson™ oil to explore how the principles of

Color Contrast
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Do you have a hard time matching paint swatches with your furniture? When you consider human perception, color is context dependent.

Phantom Phlame
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In this trick, hold your hand over a burning candle without getting burned, by reflecting and transmitting the light of two candles. This activity is best suited as a demonstration.

Anti-Gravity Mirror
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In this demonstration, amaze learners by performing simple tricks using mirrors. These tricks take advantage of how a mirror can reflect your right side so it appears to be your left side.

X-Ray Vision?
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In this activity (13th on the page), learners complete a simple illusion trick to see through their own hand.

Afterimage
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In this activity about light and perception, learners discover how a flash of light can create a lingering image called an "afterimage" on the retina of the eye.

Squirming Palm
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Known as the waterfall effect, this activity demonstrates adaptation in our visual system.