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Interactive
American Museum of Natural History

Optical Illusions and How They Work

For Students 6th - 12th
Illusions are what your mind makes them. Learners view several optical illusions. After each illusion the resource describes what is seen and the potential connection to evolution of the brain. Illusions include seeing different objects...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Seeing is Believing - Or Is It?

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Here is a great science activity. It extends the concept of vision into the area of optical illusions, perspective, and tessellation. This well-designed plan has tons of great activities, utilizes interesting video, and should lead to a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Optical Delusion

For Teachers 4th - 11th
Students examine and create a tool that enables them to explore the scientific principle the Moire Effect. Using markers, paper, and scissors, they create an optical illusion that involves superimposing a grid of lines over another...
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Activity
Exploratorium

Squirming Palm

For Teachers 4th - 8th
You will need an electric drill and some Velcro™ in order to have this activity available for your class. It is, however, an intriguing display of optical illusion. After watching a spinning disk (provided), viewers look at one of...
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PPT
Jefferson Lab

Optics: Mirrors and Lenses

For Students 9th - 12th
Did you see that or did I imagine it? Optical illusions are often created with mirrors and lenses, and here is a presentation that covers many different types of mirrors and lenses and how they work. Flat, concave, and convex mirrors, as...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Studying our Senses

For Students 4th - 6th
Who would not want an opportunity to taste jellybeans in class?  During this investigation, life science learners hold their noses as they take a taste test and find that our perception of flavor is connected with our sense of...
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Activity
Exploratorium

Depth Spinner

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Put a new twist on your collection of optical illusion activities. Affix the linked printable spiral to a drill, record player, or some other rotating tool. Have learners stare at the spinning disk for only 15 seconds and then look away....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Optical Illusions

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students view, identify, and construct four optical illusions. In this optical illusions lesson, students are introduced to four types of optical illusions. They construct their own illusions.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Optical Illusions

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
Students investigate optical illusions. In this optical illusions lesson plan, students explore perception. Students analyze optical illusions and determine common misconceptions.
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Lesson Planet Article
Curated OER

Using Optical Illusion Brain Teasers Add a Twist to Math and Science

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Optical illusion activities can provide a motivating way for students to explore math and science concepts.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Applied Science - Science and Math Post-Lab

For Teachers 2nd - 8th
Students explore optical illusions. In this Applied Science lesson, students view optical illusions and record the data of what they see. Students graph the data that they collect.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Light, Colors, and Vision

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders experience optic illusions by creating flipbooks. In this optics lesson, 3rd graders view a demonstration of the workings of rods and cones using a camera. They are shown an optical illusion and work to create their own...
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Activity
Curated OER

Benham's Disk

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Seeing is believing! Or is it? With this simple experiment, young scientists can explore the concept of visual perception. Attach Benham's disk to a rotating appliance such as a hand drill; As it spins, the black lines appear to be...
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Activity
Exploratorium

Jacques Cousteau in Seashells

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Visionaries create images out of dots to demonstrate the eye-brain connection. Through this activity, they learn that the brain interprets data collected by the eye into recognizable information. Search online for "Jacques Cousteau in...
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Lesson Plan
University of Minnesota

Beautiful Brain: Do You See What I See?

For Teachers 5th - 9th Standards
Can art play tricks on your eyes, and can a still painting really appear to vibrate? The second lesson in a four-part series discusses the way our beautiful brains translate visual images. It highlights the style of optical art and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Components of Light

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students are given a mnemonic device to review the light spectrum as it relates to the different components of refracted light. For this components of light lesson, students read Light Magic and review the properties of light. Students...
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Activity
Exploratorium

Far Out Corners

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Construct a three-dimensional optical illusion when your class is exploring vision and how the eye and brain work together. Three concave corners are mounted inside of a black box, but as a light is shined upon them, they appear to be...
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Activity
Exploratorium

Fading Dot

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Fuzzy edges cause an image to fade from view in an activity intended to demonstrate how vision works. 
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Activity
Exploratorium

Bird in the Cage

For Teachers 5th - 9th
When your life science class is learning about the eye and how it works, you can add this activity as a demonstration of how the retina holds an afterimage. After staring at a red, green, or blue bird shape, pupils glance at a cage and...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

What is Retrograde Motion

For Students 8th - 10th
In this retrograde motion worksheet, students draw a diagram of the night sky by connecting dots to show retrograde motion. They compare retrograde motion to an optical illusion and answer questions about both.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

An Awareness of Light Made Simply Fun

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Learners with sensory perception issues discover the properties of light through a series of excellent hands on activities. They look at beams of lights in a darkened room; use a kaleidoscope and optical illusions as they experience the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mysterious Melodies

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Young scholars play brain tricks on one another. In this brain lesson, students cut out cards to show one another. They try to trick the other person into reading the cards incorrectly and look at other optical illusions. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Optical Illusion Machine

For Teachers 1st - 3rd
Students explore optical illusions. Using Legos, they construct and motorize a machine that has an axle that's geared up and geared down, complete a worksheet, and answer discussion questions.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Change of Scene

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students create their own optical illusions by making something look big and then changing what's around it to make it look little.

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