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Flashlight Play
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In this activity, young learners will explore light and darkness through flashlight play.

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.

Spherical Reflections
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In this art meets science activity, learners pack silver, ball-shaped ornaments in a single layer in a box to create an array of spherical reflectors.

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

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.

CD Spectroscope
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In this activity, learners use an old CD to construct a spectroscope, a device that separates light into its component colors.

Bubble Tray
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In this activity, learners use simple materials to create giant bubbles.

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

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.

Water Sphere Lens
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In this activity about light and refraction, learners make a lens and magnifying glass by filling a bowl with water.

Magic Wand
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In this activity about light and perception, learners create pictures in thin air.
The Ripple Tank
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In this optics activity, learners create a ripple tank from household materials to study waves. Learners build the tank and then explore by making various types of waves.
Polarized Light
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In this optics activity, learners experiment with polarizers (small dark rectangles) to examine light intensity.

Hot Spot
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In this activity, learners explore the invisible infrared radiation from an electric heater.
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.

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.

The Blind Spot
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In this activity (1st on the page), learners find their blind spot--the area on the retina without receptors that respond to light.

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