Plans for building a 3-D triangle with seemingly impossible structure. Good for projects and presentations.

This site from ScienceWorld provides a short biographical sketch of Augustin Fresnel (1788-1827 CE) and describes his most notable scientific discoveries and contributions. Links are provided throughout for additional information.

An experiment to demonstrate how to make a rainbow and why they form.

A simple experiment that clearly demonstrates how light bends when it passes through water. Accompanied by a good explanation of what's happening, and a link to an article on refraction.

An experiment to investigate what colors are seen when light is absorbed or reflected by colored gumballs. With links to scientific, academic articles that explain what is happening.

An investigation into how lenses behave. Students explore using convex and concave lenses in various ways and record their observations. They are then are directed to another site to try activities where they can manipulate virtual lenses.

A simple experiment that clearly demonstrates angles of reflection when light hits a mirror. Accompanied by a good explanation of what's happening, and a link to an article on reflection.

Did you know that there is a part of your eye that does not give you any visual information? In this activity learn about this part of the retina called the "blind spot".

In this full-color image, a neuron is expressing the light-gated cation channel channelrhodopsin-2 (small green shapes), and is being illuminated by a focused beam of blue light (coming from the top).

This lesson plan focuses on the parts of our bodies that we use to see and how the brain actually causes changes in what we see. Specific instructions and talking points are provided along with multiple activities for the learners to...

The blind spot in human vision is described and illustrated.

[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] The structure and function of the eye and how we see.

Explains what polystyrene is and its many different properties and uses.

A number of strands of fiber optic cable emit a glowing light at the tips, the effect further enhanced by the black background.

Goes through the different structural and optical parts of a compound microscope and how a compound microscope functions.

A large collection of visual illusions and anomalous motion illusions. The latter can potentially make a person feel dizzy and should be viewed or shared with caution.

Bill Nye explains why the moon appears smaller when it is higher in the sky, and he presents a Home Demo experiment that proves its an illusion. The experiment requires a bright moon on a clear night, a stiff piece of cardboard, and a...

An optical illusion created using Leonardo's well-known portrait of the Mona Lisa serves as source material for an exercise in perception.

Two examples of optical illusions that demonstrate aspects of how we perceive color.

A display of crystals of nanocrystals allows students to study the inner structure and components of these structures. Being able to precisely control the shape and size of nanocrystals and understand their self-assembly process might...

Theodore Maiman built the world's first operable laser. Ironically, Maiman's first paper announcing this momentous achievement, which many other scientists had been racing to complete themselves, was rejected. Since then, however, lasers...

An investigation into how polarized light behaves, with instructions on how to make a polarizer using glass slides. With a link to an article explaining about polarized light. PDF (requires Adobe Reader).

An activity to demonstrate how light behaves when encountering an obstacle, in this case, wax blocks placed in a ripple tank. Includes an explanation of the diffraction that occurs.

An investigation, using a ripple tank, into how waves behave when they collide with each other. With an explanation of what is observed, and a link to an article on refraction.