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Exploring Materials: Nano Gold
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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.

Glowing in the Dark
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In this activity, learners explore phosphorescence and how certain materials can absorb and store energy from a light source.

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

What is Nanotechnology?
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In this activity related to nanotechnology, learners observe some of the effects that result from creating a thin layer of material several nanometers thick.

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.

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.

Exploring Materials: Thin Films
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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.

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.

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.

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.

Eye Spy
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This fun activity uses simple materials such as milk cartons and mirrors to introduce the ideas of optics and visual perception.

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.

Spectroscope
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In this activity (posted on March 12, 2011), learners follow the steps to construct a spectroscope, a tool used to analyze light and color.

Glow Up
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In this activity, learners explore chemiluminescence and fluorescence. Learners examine 3 different solutions in regular light, in the dark with added bleach solution, and under a black light.

Camera Projector
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In this activity (posted on March 14, 2011), learners follow the steps to construct a camera projector to explore lenses and refraction.

Night Lights
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In this activity, learners create night lights using a plastic cup, programmable PICO Cricket, tri-color LED, and sensor.

Opti-Top
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In this activity, learners will create an optical illusion top. Learners will explore color mixing, physics and design through this activity.

Science of Sunblock
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This is an activity (located on page 3 of the PDF under Stained Glass Activity) about nanotechnology making its way into everyday products, such as sunscreen, and how effective these invisible particl

Build Your Own Solar Oven
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Learners follow directions to construct a solar oven that really cooks! The solar oven uses aluminum foil to reflect sunlight into a cooking chamber, which is painted black.