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Kids and Optics

The optics and physics communities have created many fantastic resources aimed at primary and secondary school (K12) students. This page will direct you to a series of links that will let you explore educational material and hands-on resources – for kids of all ages!

Videos

Bill Nye the Science Guy: Light Optics
Bill describes how light is energy that normally moves in a straight line, but often something gets in the way. When light runs into something, three things can happen — the light can bounce off, it can go through, or it can be absorbed. Often all three things happen at the same time.

Bill Nye the Science Guy: Light and Color
Bill Nye explains how light affects how we see color. White light, like the light from the Sun, is made up of all the different colors of light blended together. When white light hits something white, almost all of the light bounces into our eyes, and we see the color white. Things are different colors because some light bounces off and other light gets absorbed.

SPIE: Light in Action

Kids learn about lasers, cameras, and other cool stuff in this SPIE video; it features kids showing kids (aged 9-11) that science can be fun and exciting and that advancements with light are all around them.

Light at WorkThis 42-minute video traces the fast-paced history of the laser and includes exciting visual depictions of laser applications. Targeted to high school and post-secondary students, the video focuses on the characteristics of diode, solid-state and gas lasers and the properties that make them useful in a variety of applications including telecommunications, entertainment, biomedicine and the military.
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Hands On Projects

Exploratorium
Find activities that can be done at home from the Exploratorium, the museum of science, art and human perception in San Francisco.
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Hands-On Optics
Through these activities, students gain experience and understanding of optics principles, as well as learning the basics of inquiry, critical thinking, and problem solving skills involving optics.
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Optics4Kids Activities
In this website are experiments that will help you understand the physics of light impress your friends with your new ability to manipulate light and color using nothing but a few gumballs and a shoebox.
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WEBSITES

Optics4Kids
The Optical Society presents Exploring the Science of Light. Find games and ideas for science fair projects. Learn how optics can focus your future!
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Physics and Light
Physics4Kids.com introduces the basics of physics to all ages. There are sections on motion, mechanics, light, heat, thermodynamics, electricity, magnetism, and modern physics.
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Educational Videos, Lessons and Games for K-12 School Kids
Light and Optics for Kids – Interesting videos, lessons, quiz games, interactive diagrams, presentations and activities on light and optics.
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Optical Illusions
This site is a fascinating collection of graphic demonstrations of optical illusions and visual phenomena, by Michael Bach of Freiburg University. The illusions include discussion of the science behind the visuals.
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Stanford Solar Center
The Stanford Solar Center provides teachers, students, and the interested public with the latest information about the Sun. They also provide educational resources such, as a popular, free, build-your-own spectroscopes.
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Your Guide to Physics on the Web
This site has is great for browsing articles and interactive features about physics, including light.
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Light & Radiation Interactive Simulations
Fun, interactive, research-based simulations of physical phenomena from the PhET™ project at the University of Colorado.
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