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In this activity on page 11 of the PDF, learners use candle wax to make "invisible" designs that are revealed with watercolor paints.

$1 - $5 per student Ages 6 - 11 5 to 10 minutes
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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.

$1 - $5 per student Ages 8 - 18 10 to 30 minutes
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In this activity, learners use simple materials to create giant bubbles.

$1 - $5 per group Ages 6 - 14 10 to 30 minutes
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In this activity, learners create a cylindrical mirror to see themselves as others see them.

$1 - $5 per student Ages 8 - 14 10 to 30 minutes
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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.

$1 - $5 per group Ages 8 - 14 10 to 30 minutes
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In this optics activity, learners discover basic lens-making techniques by using a tennis ball to make a lens out of ice.

$1 - $5 per student Ages 14 - adult 2 to 4 hours
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In this activity about light and refraction, learners make a lens and magnifying glass by filling a bowl with water.

$1 - $5 per group Ages 8 - 14 10 to 30 minutes
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In this activity, learners explore why the sky is blue. Learners model the scattering of light by the atmosphere, which creates the blue sky and red sunset, using a flashlight and clear glue sticks.

$1 - $5 per student Ages 8 - 14 5 to 10 minutes
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In this activity, learners build inexpensive kaleidoscopes using transparency paper and foil (instead of mirrors).

$1 - $5 per student Ages 8 - 14 10 to 30 minutes
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In this optics activity, learners make a simple telescope using two lenses and a cardboard tube. Learners construct the telescope and then calculate its magnification.

$1 - $5 per student Ages 8 - 14 5 to 10 minutes
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In this lab (Activity #1 on page), learners explore how we see color.

$1 - $5 per group Ages 8 - 18 45 to 60 minutes
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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!

$1 - $5 per student Ages 8 - 18 45 to 60 minutes
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In this activity on page 5 of the PDF (Plants—The Green Machines), learners use chromatography to separate and identify pigments within various leaves.

$1 - $5 per student Ages 8 - 14 1 to 2 hours
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In this activity, learners investigate the reflective properties of light and mirrors as they make a kaleidoscope.

$1 - $5 per student Ages 6 - 11 10 to 30 minutes
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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.

$1 - $5 per student Ages 8 - 18 30 to 45 minutes
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This activity helps learners understand how the angle of the Sun affects temperatures around the globe.

$1 - $5 per group Ages 11 - 18 45 to 60 minutes
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In this activity about light and perception, learners create and observe moire patterns.

$1 - $5 per student Ages 8 - 14 10 to 30 minutes
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In this activity, learners explore liquid crystals, light and temperature. Using a postcard made of temperature-sensitive liquid crystal material, learners monitor temperature changes.

$1 - $5 per student Ages 8 - 18 10 to 30 minutes
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In this activity, learners make a Benham Top to explore visual illusions and optics.

$1 - $5 per student Ages 8 - 18 30 to 45 minutes
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In this activity, learners use a compact disc to make a spectrometer, an instrument used to measure properties of light.

$1 - $5 per student Ages 11 - 18 30 to 45 minutes