Sometimes we see things that we know can’t be true, but we can’t quit figure out how they happen. Our mind tells us it can’t happen, but what we see tells us differently. Take a look at the following clip.
Okay, so the “clown car trick”, is just that, a trick. It looks like all of those clowns are stuffed into and are coming out of one tiny car, but we know that it’s not really happening. It’s a trick to make it look like that. Now let’s look at another video clip. This one isn’t necessarily a trick, but more of an optical illusion.
The experiment that you are going today is going to seem impossible, just like the clown car with all of the clowns and the cakes of the same size that look like they are different sizes. But instead of using a trick or even an optical illusion, we are going to use science. We are going to use the principle of physical change to make the [seemingly] impossible become possible.
Material: scissors and an index card or quarter sheet of paper
What to dig a little deeper??
Check out these additional resources to learn a little more about the science behind today’s experiment and try a few more optical illusions.
Physical Change– Primary & Intermediate (K-5)
What is an Optical Illusion by Optics 4 Kids Click the title to go to the website. All ages.
Illusions by NIEHS Click the title to go to the website. All ages.
Chemical Changes versus Physical Changes by Chem4Kids.com Click the title to go to the website. For grades 5++
We enjoyed this. Educational and fun. Thank you!
So glad to hear! Hope you check out some of our other activities!