CGFA
Carol Gerten Fine Arts: M. C. Escher
This resource provides a very informative biography as well as a gallery with 15 pictures of great Escher art.
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: Why Do We See Illusions?
Why can't our extremely complex eyes render simple optical illusions? Surprise, surprise- it comes back to the brain, which has only evolved to encounter natural stimuli. Mark Changizi explains how the brain reckons with optical...
Exploratorium
Exploratorium: Shimmer
Student will see this design shimmer! Use this site to learn about this optical illusion and what makes it happen.
Other
Middle Tennessee State University: Study Skills Help Page
The Study Skills Help Page offers many learning strategies for success. The website is based on a college course - it has a wide variety of online learning resources such as study skills course objective, notes, and practice tests/games.
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: The Mathematics of Sidewalk Illusions
Have you ever come across an oddly stretched image on the sidewalk, only to find that it looks remarkably realistic if you stand in exactly the right spot? These sidewalk illusions employ a technique called anamorphosis- a special case...
Exploratorium
Exploratorium: Science Snacks: Looking a Little Spotty
By using digitally manipulated images, test your brain to see how much information is needed for your brain to produce an image.
Exploratorium
Exploratorium: Science Snacks: Michelle O (Formerly Vanna)
Here is an activity where students experiment with how the brain receives a strange view of a familiar object.
Exploratorium
Exploratorium: Science Snacks: Mirrorly a Window
Understand that what you see is often affected by your expectations of what you think you should see. This activity will explore the sensation you feel when your brain expects to see something.
Exploratorium
Exploratorium: Science Snacks: Overlapping Spot
Do you know how to make a bright spot brighter? In this activity, your eyes will send conflicting information to the brain. See how you perceive what is on the paper.
Exploratorium
Exploratorium: Science Snacks: Anti Gravity Mirror
Using the property of reflection, this activity will have students appearing to defy gravity.
Exploratorium
Exploratorium: Science Snacks: Bronx Cheer Bulb
In this activity observe how light sources flash as you give them a raspberry. As you complete the activity, make a conclusion about what is wiggling the lights or you.
Exploratorium
Exploratorium: Science Snacks: Cheshire Cat
In this activity, you will trick your brain into thinking that your friend has disappeared except for their smile. Understand what happens when your eyes receive different images.
Exploratorium
Exploratorium: Science Snacks: Circles or Ovals?
Did you ever wonder why you have two eyes but only see one image? This activity will explore how your brain combines the images from your eyes in surprising ways. Learn about the dominant eye and how some people do not have one!
Exploratorium
Exploratorium: Science Snacks: Color Contrast
Did you know that different-colored backgrounds cause colored objects to look different? In this investigation, students will experience this phenomenon.
Exploratorium
Exploratorium: Science Snacks: Depth Spinner
Observe adaptation and perception in the activity. This activity will have students watching a continuously rotation spiral to see what happens as you watch it and then look away.
Exploratorium
Exploratorium: Science Snacks: Fading Dot
An activity with an optical illusion that will have your eyes seeing it and then not seeing it! Learn the science behind what makes the dot on the page "disappear".
Exploratorium
Exploratorium: Science Snacks: Far Out Corners
An activity with an optical illusion that will have your eyes seeing a cluster of boxes but is it really boxes? In this activity, explore this illusion and what happens to trick your brain to seeing what it sees.
Exploratorium
Exploratorium: Science Snacks: Gray Step
An activity to test your perception to see if you can distinguish between different shades of gray.
Exploratorium
Exploratorium: Science Snacks: Hole in Your Hand
Create an optical illusion with this activity. Understand what your brain interprets if it receives conflicting information from your eyes.
Exploratorium
Exploratorium: Science Snacks: Jacques Cousteau in Seashells
An experiment in optical illusions. Understand how seeing is a joint effort between your eyes and your brain.
National Institutes of Health
National Eye Institute: Optical Illusions
Visit this site for some optical illusions for you to have fun with! Click on the "optical illusions" page in this PDF format for a printable version of these four illusions.
Read Works
Read Works: Double Vision
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about how 3-D televisions work. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Plix: Vision and the Eye: The Line Up
[Free Registration/Login Required] Are your eyes playing tricks on you? This site contains parallel and skew lines that creates an optical illusion.
Other
Art of Anamorphosis
An interesting look at a type of optical illusion art that has been around for ages. You can find a full length description, examples, and downloadable software that will allow you to create your own digital version of this kind of art.