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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.

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

In this activity, learners discuss and investigate how cameras, telescopes, and their own eyes use light in similar ways.

In this hands-on botany activity, learners sprout vegetables in film canisters.

In this activity, learners experiment with shadows and light sources to understand the relationship between the angle illumination and the shadow's length.

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.

In this optics activity, learners explore color by examining color dots through colored water and the light of a flashlight.

In this optics activity, learners explore how light bends and affects what we see.

In this activity, learners explore why they can see colors in bubbles and why they change.

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.

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

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

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.

In this optics activity, learners make a "light fountain" from a clear plastic bottle, flashlight, and other simple materials.

By making models of light waves with paper, learners can understand why different colors appear in bubbles.

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

In this activity (posted on March 27, 2011), learners follow the steps to construct a mini zoetrope, a device that produces an illusion of action from a rapid succession of static pictures.

In this activity, learners explore how and why rainbows form by creating rainbows in a variety of ways using simple materials. Learners create rainbows indoors and outdoors.

In this activity, learners use a flashlight, a glass of water, and some milk to examine why the sky is blue and sunsets are red.

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