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In this activity, learners make an optical illusion toy from the 1800s to explore persistence of vision. When you spin the Thaumatrope, the pictures move so quickly that your eyes and brain can't see them separately and your brain blends the two pictures into one. [Activity is publicly available through a web crawler capture on Archive.org.]
- Under 5 minutes
- 5 to 10 minutes
- $1 - $5 per student
- Ages 6 - 11
- Activity
- English, Spanish
Quick Guide
Materials List (per student)
- 3 in. x 5 in. white, unlined index card
- markers
- plastic straw
- clear tape
Subjects
-
Life Sciences
-
Human Body
- The Brain and Nervous System
-
Human Senses and Perception
- Vision
- Perception
-
Human Body
-
The Nature of Science
-
The Scientific Process
- Conducting Investigations
-
The Scientific Process
Informal Categories
- Arts and Crafts
- Toys
Audience
To use this activity, learners need to:
- see
- touch
Learning styles supported:
- Links STEM to other topics of interest such as arts and humanities
- Involves hands-on or lab activities
Other
Foreign language versions of this resource:
This resource is part of:
Access Rights:
- Free access
By:
Rights:
- All rights reserved, WGBH Educational Foundation, 2002
Funding Sources:
- National Science Foundation, 0229796
- Corporation for Public Broadcasting
- PBS
- The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations