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In this optics activity, learners build an animation tool to make mini movies. When you spin a phenakistascope, the pictures move so quickly that your eyes and brain can't separate the images.

In this activity, learners create an optical illusion by spinning two attached cups. A round ball seems to magically appear when the cups spin.

In this quick activity, Dracula has a hole in his house and learners help solve the problem by using a mirror and protractor to reflect incoming light out of his house.

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!

This is a series of three quick science activities to do with a spoon, knife, and fork. In the first two activities, learners use the flatware to explore optics, mirrors, reflection, and distortion.

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

In this online activity, learners make a whole rainbow by mixing red, green, and blue light. They can change the wavelength of a monochromatic beam or they can filter white light.

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

In this easy demonstration (3rd on the page), learners explore depth perception by conducting a test with two pencils.

In this activity, learners surprise their eyes with an optical illusion involving arrows made out of pipe cleaners.

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

In this demonstration (18th on the page), learners conduct a simple test to explore how the cornea refracts light, which is further bent by the eye lens through a process known as accommodation.

In this activity (posted on March 20, 2011), learners follow the steps to construct a stroboscope, a device that exploits the persistence of vision to make moving objects appear slow or stationary.

In this activity related to light and perception, learners use a pinhole in an index card as a magnifying glass to help their eye focus on a nearby object.

In this activity, learners use a simple trick of perspective to dress friends in tiny cutout clothing. Learners make tiny pants out of card stock and tape them to the end of a stick.

In this activity, learners will explore how their own eyes work by experimenting with their photoreceptors.

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

In this activity, learners construct a projector out of cardboard to view their favorite images (such as storybook illustrations) on the wall.

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 activity, learners construct a device that projects images onto a surface, so they can trace landscapes and other sights.