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Learners explore three-dimensional geometric frames including cubes and tetrahedrons, as they create bubble wands with pipe cleaners and drinking straws.

In this activity, learners use an old CD to construct a spectroscope, a device that separates light into its component colors.

Like water drops in falling rain, a CD separates white light into all the colors that make it up.

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.

In this activity, learners use simple materials to create giant bubbles.

In this activity related to nanotechnology, learners observe some of the effects that result from creating a thin layer of material several nanometers thick.

In this optics activity, demonstrate diffraction using a candle or a small bright flashlight bulb and a slide made with two pencils.

In this activity (posted on March 12, 2011), learners follow the steps to construct a spectroscope, a tool used to analyze light and color.

In this four-part activity, learners explore light and sound through a variety of hands-on investigations.

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

In this activity, learners use a compact disc to make a spectrometer, an instrument used to measure properties of light.

This fun and simple hands-on astronomy activity describes techniques scientists use to find planets orbiting other stars.

An ordinary camera has a lens that makes an image on film. In a pinhole camera, a small hole replaces the lens.

This is an activity (located on page 3 of the PDF under Butterfly Wings Activity) about how visible light is affected by tiny nanoscale structures, producing iridescence on butterfly wings, soap bubbl

In this activity, learners observe as soap bubbles float on a cushion of carbon dioxide gas. Learners blow bubbles into an aquarium filled with a slab of dry ice.

In this activity, learners trap a thin layer of air between two pieces of Plexiglas to produce rainbow-colored interference patterns.

This activity uses a special paper that can create images with exposure to the Sun. Collect objects of different shapes and sizes and use them to make interesting patterns on your sun print.

In this optics activity, learners explore diffraction by adding wax blocks to a ripple tank. The wedge-shaped blocks act as obstacles that the wave must bend around.

In this optics activity, learners split white light into all its component colors using three household items: a compact disc, dishwashing liquid, and a hose (outside).

In this activity, learners construct their own spectroscope as they explore and observe spectra from familiar light sources.