Polarized Light activity with hands holding paper and polarizing tape materials up to the window

Light Activities

A compilation of public engagement activities that explore light visible to our eyes and other wavelengths on the electromagnetic spectrum.

Light plays a central role in our lives. The electromagnetic (EM) spectrum includes wavelengths ranging from radio waves, microwaves, infrared, the visible spectrum that we perceive as light, ultraviolet, X-rays, and gamma rays. The main source of visible light on the Earth is our Sun, which provides virtually all the energy used by living things. These activities and resources cover some of the different ways we interact with and use light. 

Featured Short hands-on activities

Search for more on light and optics
a group of learners build UV color changing beaded bracelets

Exploring Properties - UV Bracelets

In this activity, learners use ultraviolet light to change the color of beads that contain photochromic dye.
A family looks at an image through a blue filter

Exploring the Universe: Filtered Light

In this activity, learners discover how colored filters can help reveal more about an image and we can use light and filters to learn more about an object.
image of a handprint that was created using heat sensitive liquid crystals suspended in thermal paper

Exploring Materials - Liquid Crystals

In this activity, learners will investigate the properties of a heat sensitive liquid crystal and make their own liquid crystal sensor to take home.
Liquid crystal display activity components including signs, guides, craft materials, safety gear, and liquid crystal material

Exploring Products - Liquid Crystal Displays

In this activity, learners investigate temperature-sensitive liquid crystal sheets and liquid crystal displays from a calculator.
Girl looking at objects in a beaker filled with liquid that appear to be invisible

Exploring Properties - Invisibility

In this activity, learners investigate how glass objects can be "hidden" in some liquids through refraction.
Hands holding glass objects on a string in a beaker of liquid

Exploring Nano & Society - Invisibility Cloak

In this activity, learners explore how refraction can be used to make a glass stir rod "disappear" in a cup of baby oil, while having conversations about new technologies.
Exploring Products - Sunblock activity components like the construction paper, swabs, and sunblock.

Exploring Products - Sunblock

In this activity, learners compare sunblock containing nanoparticles to ointment.
Exploring Materials - Thin Films activity components including signs, activity materials and guides.

Exploring Materials - Thin Films

In this activity, learners create a colorful bookmark using a super thin layer of nail polish on water.
two children looking at Blue Morpho butterfly

Exploring Structures - Butterfly

In this activity, learners investigate how butterfly wings get their color and that some wings get their color from the nanoscale structures on the wings instead of pigments.
Child holding squares of red stained glass colored by nano gold

Exploring Materials - Nano Gold

In this activity, learners discover that nanoparticles of gold can appear red, orange or even blue.
Learner uses 3D glasses to look at a image printed on a sheet of paper

Exploring Tools - 3D Imaging

In this activity, learners use 3D glasses to discover what ordinary objects look like under magnification.
Exploring Properties - Capillary Action activity components including signs, activity materials and guides.

Exploring Properties - Capillary Action

In this activity, learners explore how liquids flow in narrow spaces.
Two learners and one facilitator look at gold nanoparticles suspended in a solution which makes a red color

Exploring Materials - Stained-Glass Windows

In this activity, learners use contact paper and colored tissue paper to create a "nanoparticle stained-glass" window.
Person's hand resting a Stained Glass window

Nanoparticle Stained Glass (cart demo)

In this activity, learners make a collaborative stained glass window and a take-away card with pre-made nanoparticle solutions containing silver or gold
Family using thermometer to take temperature of their arm for the Heat Map activity

Exploring Earth: Temperature Mapping

In this activity, learners model the way Landsat satellites use a thermal infrared sensor to measure land surface temperatures.
A young learner in a grassy field safely observes an image of the Sun being projected on a solarscope using the Exploring the Solar System: Observe the Sun activity.

Exploring the Solar System: Observe the Sun

In this activity, learners safely view the Sun and study features on its face, via a solarscope.
Hands holding square of polarizers and transparent tape

Exploring Materials - Polarizers

In this activity, learners experiment how polarizers affect light by using two polarizing sheets and overlapping layers of transparent tape.
Child in a red shirt with a preserved butterfly

Butterflies

A collection of resources about butterflies that can be integrated into other programs or exhibits on butterflies. These butterfly activities and resources focus on light, color, iridescence, pigmentation versus structural color, and technology inspired by nature.

Videos

Closeup photo of Blue Morpho Butterfly

Butterfly Blues video

In this O Wow Moments video, Mr. O talks about iridescence and Blue Morpho butterflies.

Zoom into a Blue Morpho Butterfly video

In this 3-minute video, the viewer zooms into a Blue Morpho Butterfly from macroscale to nanoscale.
A person holding an ice cream cone with the text "NANO: I've never had that problem."

Nano and Me Videos

In these short videos, learners are introduced to simple fundamentals about the nanoscale; topics include the differences between macro and nano silver, gold, aluminum, latex, gravity, and stain free pants.
Lady in pink shirt stands in the path of a cluster of bubbles

What’s Nano About Bubbles?

In this 30-second video, viewers quickly learn about the rainbow of colors seen in bubbles.
A photoshopped image of people wearing invisibility cloaks hiding everything but their legs

Invisibility Cloak video

In this 4-min video the idea of invisibility cloaks is comedically explored.
Presenter with a UV meter

A Little Bit of Sunshine

In this O Wow Moments video, Mr. O compares sunblock containing nanoparticles to ointment.

Longer Programs

Looking at an opal through a scanning electron microscope

Colors at the Nanoscale: Butterflies, Beetles and Opals

In this activity, learners will be exposed to the term ‘Photonic Crystals,' explore some of the well-known photonic crystals in nature and will also be able observe one method that scientists use in trying to replicate this process.
A person puts a liquid on a substrate which is on top of a DIY spin-coater.

Organic Light-Emitting Diodes (OLEDs): Cart Version

In this activity, learners explore OLEDs through presentations and a spin coater demonstration. Instructions are included for facilitators to pre-make the OLEDs and the spin coater.
A person puts a liquid on a substrate which is on top of a DIY spin-coater.

Organic Light-Emitting Diodes (OLEDs): Classroom Version

In this classroom activity, learners will engage with organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) to discover how they work.
A circuit etched on a board using photolithography.

Photolithography

In this long activity, learners will use UV light to transfer a pattern (either a network of very small metal wires or self-drawn patterns) onto a plastic board in a process called photolithography.
Students work on making their own version of stained glass

Nanoparticle Stained Glass: classroom program

In this long activity, learners are introduced to the connections between art and science, with a focus on the connection between stained glass and nanotechnology.
solar cell wired up to a meter

Dye Sensitized (Raspberry Juice) Solar Cell

In this activity, learners build a dye-sensitized solar cell using nanocrystalline titanium dioxide and raspberry juice.

Our Sun

A young learner in a grassy field safely observes an image of the Sun being projected on a solarscope using the Exploring the Solar System: Observe the Sun activity.

Exploring the Solar System: Observe the Sun

In this activity, learners safely view the Sun and study features on its face, via a solarscope.
Solar Eclipse ativity with young museum visitors at 2017 Science Museum of Minnesota Earth Day event

Exploring the Solar System: Solar Eclipse

In this activity, learners investigate the positions of the Sun, Earth, and Moon to create shadows and learn about solar eclipses.
2017 solar eclipse square format

Solar Eclipses

A compilation of solar eclipse resources including resources for the October 14, 2023 annular solar eclipse and the total solar on April 8, 2024.
Solar Science illustration of the sun being projection onto a sheet

Solar Science: Exploring Sunspots, Seasons, Eclipses, and More

This booklet explains how eclipses work, how to safely view them, and what viewers can expect from a solar eclipse.
Facilitator demonstrates a magnetic field with a small model of Earth

Exploring the Solar System: Magnetic Fields

In this activity, learners use magnets and metal items to learn about magnetic fields of the Earth, the Sun, and other objects in the universe.

Shadows

Exploring Earth: Bear’s Shadow activity image of a mother and girl holding a flashlight representing the sun

Exploring Earth: Bear’s Shadow

In this activity, learners move a flashlight around an object to make and experiment with shadows, followed by reading a storybook.
Exploring Tools - Transmission Electron Microscopes activity components including signs, activity materials and guides.

Exploring Tools - Transmission Electron Microscopes

In this activity, learners use a model of a transmission electron microscope to image an object by looking at its shadow.
Photo of the materials used in the Exoplanet Transits activity

Exploring the Universe: Exoplanet Transits

In this activity, learners model one method to search for exoplanets by using a lightbox and mystery objects.

Invisibility

Girl looking at objects in a beaker filled with liquid that appear to be invisible

Exploring Properties - Invisibility

In this activity, learners investigate how glass objects can be "hidden" in some liquids through refraction.
A photoshopped image of people wearing invisibility cloaks hiding everything but their legs

Invisibility Cloak video

In this 4-min video the idea of invisibility cloaks is comedically explored.
Hands holding glass objects on a string in a beaker of liquid

Exploring Nano & Society - Invisibility Cloak

In this activity, learners explore how refraction can be used to make a glass stir rod "disappear" in a cup of baby oil, while having conversations about new technologies.
Components in NanoDays sunblock activity including sunscreen and black paper.

Invisible Sunblock

In this activity, learners compare nano and non-nano sunblock products to discover the effect of particle size on visibility.

Microscopes, Telescopes, and the Electromagnetic Spectrum

Scientist using an Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM).

Microscopes and Tools for the Small

We use special tools to detect things we can't see with just our eyes. A compilation of microscope resources focusing on revealing things too small to see with just our eyes. Resources include activities and images about magnification, light or optical microscopes, Scanning Electron Microscopes (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopes (TEM), and Atomic Force Microscopes (AFM).
A model of the intense magnetic fields around the Sun

Telescopes and the Electromagnetic Spectrum

We use special tools to detect things far away that we can't see with just our eyes. Many tools use different wavelengths on the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) including visible light, infrared light, ultraviolet light, and radio waves. Other tools may detect magnetism—such as the magnetic field lines around the surface of the Sun.

Online Workshop Recordings

Blue logo for online workshop recordings

Online Workshop Recording: Nano Brown-Bag: The International Year of Light 2015 - What's Nano about Light?

Online professional development workshop recording focused on the International Year of Light (2014).
NISE Net Brown-Bag icon

Online Brown-Bag: The Science Behind NanoDays 2013 - Part 1 (Recorded)

February 12, 2013
The Science Behind NanoDays 2013 activities including a discussion of light at the nanoscale. This brown-bag focused on the science behind these two NanoDays activities: Exploring Products - Liquid Crystal Displays (NanoDays 2013)Exploring Materials - Memory Metal (NanoDays 2013).

Annual Events

Electromagnetic Spectrum EMS info graphic developed by NASA showing different wavelengths and examples for each rom very long radio waves to very short gamma rays
NASA Introduction to the Electromagnetic Spectrum 

More resources

Working with STEM Experts Guide cover including an image of expert puring a liquid and using a strainer with a girl and her family at a museum public event

Finding STEM Experts