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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.

$1 - $5 per student Ages 8 - 18 10 to 30 minutes
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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.

Over $20 per group Ages 8 - 14 30 to 45 minutes
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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.

1 cent - $1 per student Ages 4 - 14 Under 5 minutes
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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.

1 cent - $1 per student Ages 6 - 18 5 to 10 minutes
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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.

$1 - $5 per student Ages 8 - 18 10 to 30 minutes
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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.

1 cent - $1 per student Ages 6 - 14 5 to 10 minutes
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In this activity about light and reflection, learners use a special device called a Mirage Maker™ to create an illusion.

Over $20 per student Ages 8 - 14 5 to 10 minutes
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In this activity about depth perception, learners create an optical illusion in a shoe box.

$1 - $5 per student Ages 6 - 18 10 to 30 minutes
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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

1 cent - $1 per group Ages 6 - 14 10 to 30 minutes
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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.

1 cent - $1 per student Ages 4 - adult 5 to 10 minutes
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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.

$1 - $5 per group Ages 8 - 18 5 to 10 minutes
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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.

Over $20 per group Ages 8 - 14 10 to 30 minutes
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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.

1 cent - $1 per student Ages 8 - 18 10 to 30 minutes
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Known as the waterfall effect, this activity demonstrates adaptation in our visual system.

free Ages 6 - 14 Under 5 minutes
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We don't normally view people upside down and so our brains aren't accustomed to it.

free Ages 4 - 18 Under 5 minutes
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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.

$1 - $5 per student Ages 8 - 18 30 to 45 minutes
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In this activity, learners control the (apparent) size of a hole with their brain.

1 cent - $1 per student Ages 11 - 18 5 to 10 minutes
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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.

1 cent - $1 per group Ages 6 - 18 5 to 10 minutes
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Make a camouflage cut-out animal! Using patterned paper or magazine pictures from around the house, use your craft skills to make a paper animal that blends into its background.

1 cent - $1 per student Ages 4 - 11 5 to 10 minutes
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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.

free Ages 4 - 18 5 to 10 minutes