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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.

In this activity, learners explore what happens when polarized white light passes through a sugar solution.

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

In this quick optics activity, learners use a dim point of light (a disassembled Mini MagLite and dowel set-up) to cast a shadow of the blood supply in their retina onto the retina itself.

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

In this activity, learners explore ray optics. Learners discover that they can use a magnifying glass to create an upside-down image.

In this activity about afterimages, learners explore what happens when receptor cells called cones in your eye's retina get tired.

In this activity, learners play with a fuzzy-colored dot that has no distinct edges seems to disappear. As learners stare at the dot, its color appears to blend with the colors surrounding it.

In this lab (Activity #1 on page), learners explore how we see color.

Have you ever heard of a camera without a lens? In this activity, learners create a pinhole camera out of simple materials. They'll see the world in a whole new way: upside down and backwards!

In this activity, learners construct three optical illusion toys to examine how our brains play tricks on what we see.

In this activity about light and perception, learners create and observe moire patterns.

In this activity, learners make a Benham Top to explore visual illusions and optics.

In this activity (17th on the page), learners investigate why you cannot see colors in dim light.

In this activity, learners make an optical illusion toy from the 1800s to explore persistence of vision.

In this activity, learners explore how mirrors reflect light and change the way we see things.

In this activity, learners experience firsthand how marine animals' adaptive coloration camouflages them from prey.

In this activity, learners make optical fibers out of strips of gelatin.

In this activity, learners use simple materials to simulate the effect of X-rays in a safe way. Learners place a piece of window screen over a box and a cardboard pattern on top of the screen.

In this optics activity, learners explore why the sky is blue and the sunset is red, using a simple setup comprising a transparent plastic box, water, and powdered milk.