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In this activity, learners verify that the Sun appears in a different location at a specific time every day of the year with one exception: on the Equinoxes.

$1 - $5 per student Ages 6 - 14
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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 experiment, learners work in teams to investigate how the color of a surface influences its ability to reflect light and therefore heat.

$1 - $5 per group Ages 11 - 18 45 to 60 minutes
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In this activity on page 3 of the PDF, learners create a collage by using vinegar to transfer color pictures from a newspaper onto a piece of white paper.

$1 - $5 per student Ages 6 - 14 10 to 30 minutes
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In this activity, learners explore what happens when polarized white light passes through a sugar solution.

$1 - $5 per student Ages 8 - 18 30 to 45 minutes
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In this experiment, learners construct an equilateral triangle using graph paper, a pencil, protractor and ruler. They also make a "laser triangle" using a laser pointer and front-silvered mirrors.

$1 - $5 per group Ages 14 - 18 45 to 60 minutes
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Like water drops in falling rain, a CD separates white light into all the colors that make it up.

$1 - $5 per student Ages 6 - 14 5 to 10 minutes
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Learners demonstrate how water can distort, refract and magnify light.

$1 - $5 per group Ages 8 - 14 1 to 2 hours
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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, learners will make their own prism and use a glass of water to separate sunlight into different colors.

$1 - $5 per group Ages 8 - adult 5 to 10 minutes
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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 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.

$1 - $5 per student Ages 8 - 14 Under 5 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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This fun activity uses simple materials such as milk cartons and mirrors to introduce the ideas of optics and visual perception.

$1 - $5 per student Ages 6 - 11 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