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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.
Pinhole Viewer
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In this activity, learners discuss and investigate how cameras, telescopes, and their own eyes use light in similar ways.
Shadow Dance
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In this activity, learners experiment with shadows and light sources to understand the relationship between the angle illumination and the shadow's length.
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.
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.
The Bent Pencil
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In this optics activity, learners explore how light bends and affects what we see.
Why Are Bubbles So Colorful?
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In this activity, learners explore why they can see colors in bubbles and why they change.
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: Angles of Reflection
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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.
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.
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.
Make a Light Fountain
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In this optics activity, learners make a "light fountain" from a clear plastic bottle, flashlight, and other simple materials.
Soap-Film Interference Model: Get on our wavelength!
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By making models of light waves with paper, learners can understand why different colors appear in bubbles.
Paint by the Numbers
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In this pencil and paper activity, learners work in pairs and simulate how astronomical spacecraft and computers create images of objects in space.
Mini Zoetrope
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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.
What Causes Rainbows?
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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.
Why is the Sky Blue?
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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.
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
Transparent Gelatin
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In this optics activity, learners explore how they can make gelatin stop light, but not stop them from seeing fruit suspended within.