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Exploring Materials: Nano Gold
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners discover that nanoparticles of gold can appear red, orange or even blue. They learn that a material can act differently when it’s nanometer-sized.
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CD Spectroscope
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners use an old CD to construct a spectroscope, a device that separates light into its component colors.
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Glowing in the Dark
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners explore phosphorescence and how certain materials can absorb and store energy from a light source.
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Bronx Cheer Bulb
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners observe what happens when they give a light source like a neon glow lamp a "Bronx Cheer." The lights appear to wiggle back and forth and flicker when learners blow air throu
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Morphing Butterfly
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners explore how nanosized structures can create brilliant color.
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What is Nanotechnology?
Source Institutions
In this activity related to nanotechnology, learners observe some of the effects that result from creating a thin layer of material several nanometers thick.
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Pinhole Viewer
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners discuss and investigate how cameras, telescopes, and their own eyes use light in similar ways.
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Iridescent Art
Source Institutions
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.
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Exploring Materials: Thin Films
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners create a colorful bookmark using a super thin layer of nail polish on water. Learners discover that a thin film creates iridescent, rainbow colors.
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Exploring the Universe: Exoplanet Transits
Source Institutions
In "Exploring the Universe: Exoplanet Transits," participants simulate one of the methods scientists use to discover planets orbiting distant stars.
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Magic Wand
Source Institutions
In this activity about light and perception, learners create pictures in thin air.
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Why are Compact Fluorescent Bulbs More Efficient?
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners explore the relative efficiency of different bulbs, specifically incandescent vs. fluorescent.
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Beam Me Up!
Source Institutions
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.
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Critical Angle
Source Institutions
In this optics activity, learners examine how a transparent material such as glass or water can actually reflect light better than any mirror.
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Stereoscope
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners construct a device that allows them to view 2-D images in 3-D.
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Make a Light Fountain
Source Institutions
In this optics activity, learners make a "light fountain" from a clear plastic bottle, flashlight, and other simple materials.
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Exploring the Universe: Filtered Light
Source Institutions
"Exploring the Universe: Filtered Light" demonstrates how scientists can use telescopes and other tools to capture and filter different energies of light to study the universe.
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Paint by the Numbers
Source Institutions
In this pencil and paper activity, learners work in pairs and simulate how astronomical spacecraft and computers create images of objects in space.
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Eye Spy
Source Institutions
This fun activity uses simple materials such as milk cartons and mirrors to introduce the ideas of optics and visual perception.
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Mini Zoetrope
Source Institutions
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.