Soda Can Mirrors

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In this activity, learners explore how pictures change in curved mirrors. Learners make cylindrical mirrors by wrapping Mylar around soda cans. They use the cylindrical mirrors as anamorphic mirrors to view morphed images. Learners also use beans to distort a line as well as create anamorphic art. [Activity is publicly available through a web crawler capture on Archive.org.]

Quick Guide

Preparation Time:
Under 5 minutes
Learning Time:
45 to 60 minutes
Estimated Materials Cost:
$1 - $5 per student
Age Range:
Ages 11 - 14
Resource Type:
Activity
Language:
English

Materials List (per student)

Keywords

Subjects

  • Mathematics
    • Geometry
      • Plane Geometry
  • Physical Sciences
    • Vibration and Waves
      • Light and Optics
    • Light and Optics
      • Lenses and Mirrors
      • Reflection and Refraction
  • The Nature of Science
    • The Scientific Process
      • Conducting Investigations

Informal Categories

  • Arts and Crafts

Audience

To use this activity, learners need to:

  • see
  • read
  • touch

Learning styles supported:

  • Involves hands-on or lab activities

Other

Includes alignment to state and/or national standards:

This resource is part of:

Access Rights:

  • Free access

By:

Rights:

  • All rights reserved, Exploratorium, 2010

Funding Sources:

  • National Science Foundation
  • Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation