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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 their eye pupils and how they change.

In this activity, learners conduct a simple test to find their blind spot.

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 fun optics activity, learners explore principles of light, reflection (mirrors), and perception. Learners work in pairs and sit on opposite sides of a "two-way" mirror.

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 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.

How can you make one shade of gray look like two? By putting it against two different color backgrounds! This activity allows learners to perform this sleight of hand very easily.

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

In this activity, learners control the (apparent) size of a hole with their brain.

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

This is an online exhibit about color perception. Learners set a random background color and then try to mix red, blue, and green light to match.

Closing one eye eliminates one of the clues that your brain uses to judge depth. Trying to perform a simple task with one eye closed demonstrates how much you rely on your depth perception.

In this fun and interactive online exhibit, the straight lines of a tile wall appear to curve. The learner moves the rows of tiles and changes the color of the grout to achieve the intriguing effect.

In this optics activity, learners discover that not all shadows are black. Learners explore human color perception by using colored lights to make additive color mixtures.

In this online activity exploring our perception of "cuteness," learners adjust various factors (like pupil size or length of limbs) on a face, a cat, and a hammer.

In this activity, learners make a stroboscope--a spinning disk with slits around the edge that you look through.

Do you have a hard time matching paint swatches with your furniture? When you consider human perception, color is context dependent.

In this activity, learners discover that it's difficult to distinguish between two different shades of gray when they aren't separated by a boundary.