Clear Water Beads 'Vanish'

1. Clear Water Beads 'Vanish' Materials: Hydrated clear beads in water; slotted spoon What you do: Show apparently empty water, then scoop hidden beads. What students see: Invisible-looking beads appear on spoon. Question: How can something be there but hard to see? 2. Iodine-Starch Color Switch Materials: Dilute iodine solution; starch solution; clear cups What you do: Add iodine to starch solution. What students see: Mixture turns deep blue-black. Question: Did we make a new dye or a new interaction? 3. Mirascope Floating Image Materials: Mirascope/parabolic mirror illusion toy; small object What you do: Place object inside and view from above. What students see: A 3D-looking image appears to float in empty space. Question: Can an image look solid but have nothing there?

Predict → observe three demonstrations → compare what changed → choose independent activity station → cleanup/share. Guiding questions: Question: How can something be there but hard to see? Question: Did we make a new dye or a new interaction? Question: Can an image look solid but have nothing there?