![SIlhouette of a figure examining stars with a telescope](/sites/default/files/2023-01/physics%20chapter%20header.jpg)
How could you build a refracting telescope using water as the lenses?
Hands-on Activities
Build your own refracting telescope using glasses of water as the lenses.
![Lunar lander floating above the moon, with the Earth in the background](/sites/default/files/styles/resource_card_image_360x300_/public/2022-08/Untitled%20design%20%2812%29.png?itok=tAd3Suzb)
Let's Talk Space Exploration Resources
Backgrounders
Discover a set of resources to develop background knowledge on the topic of space exploration.
![Xiaoyi Bao](/sites/default/files/styles/career_image/public/2022-01/Xiaoyi%20Bao.jpg?itok=Qld9qH62)
Xiaoyi Bao
Professor and Canada Research Chair
![Light bulb and cord in shape of a head](/sites/default/files/styles/resource_card_image_360x300_/public/2020-11/light_bulb_head.jpg?itok=TahEJFB8)
Light and Sound Inventions that Changed the World
Lessons
Students will explore the societal impacts of inventions involving light and sound.
![The Jodrell Bank Lovell Telescope located in Cheshire, England](/sites/default/files/styles/resource_card_image_360x300_/public/2020-06/Jodrell_Bank_Lovell_Telescope.jpg?itok=TFL_abQu)
Telescopes and Astronomy
Backgrounders
Visible light is only part of what astronomers study. They use different types of telescopes to study the entire electromagnetic spectrum.
![Hubble Space Telescope as seen during a servicing mission in 2009](/sites/default/files/styles/resource_card_image_360x300_/public/2020-02/hubble_space_telescope.jpg?itok=eNoDBFx5)
Airborne & Space Telescopes
Backgrounders
Learn about telescopes that do their work high in Earth’s atmosphere and in space.
![Large diamond refracting light](/sites/default/files/styles/resource_card_image_360x300_/public/2020-02/big-round-cut-diamond.jpg?itok=KF0PkwqM)
Reflection and Refraction
Backgrounders
Learn about reflection and refraction and meet Emily Altiere, a PhD student in physics who studies lasers.
![Boy looking through telescope at night](/sites/default/files/styles/resource_card_image_360x300_/public/2020-02/telescope-boy-night.jpg?itok=13zWe-Od)
Optical Telescopes
Backgrounders
Learn about the history of telescopes and the function of refracting and reflecting optical telescopes.
![Radio Telescope array at night](/sites/default/files/styles/resource_card_image_360x300_/public/2020-02/radio-telescope-at-night.jpg?itok=Xj9MDhpb)
Radio Astronomy
Backgrounders
Learn about radio astronomy, a type of astronomy that studies objects in space using radio waves and radio telescopes.
![Adult and children looking through telescope](/sites/default/files/styles/resource_card_image_360x300_/public/2019-09/adult_and_children_looking_through_telescope.jpg?itok=eKeL_YGd)
The Optics of Telescopes
Backgrounders
Learn about telescopes, how they work & why they're important to astronomers.
![Two faces each with one eye visible](/sites/default/files/2022-06/two%20eyes%20to%20see.jpg)
Why do we need two eyes to see?
Hands-on Activities
Ever wondered why we have two eyes (and not one, three or more)? Find how your two eyes work together in this hands-on activity.
![Why is everything so small down there?](/sites/default/files/2019-08/why-is-everything-so-small-down-there.jpg)
Why is everything so small down there?
Hands-on Activities
Explore how we see things far and near and from different angles. It's all about perspective!
![Circle of colours](/sites/default/files/2019-08/what-is-white-light.jpg)
What is white light?
Hands-on Activities
Find out what happens if you spin the colours of the rainbow in this hands-on activity.
![A pot of gold at the end of a rainbow](/sites/default/files/styles/resource_card_image_360x300_/public/2019-09/A%20pot%20of%20gold%20at%20the%20end%20of%20a%20rainbow.jpeg?itok=qHjgEPrQ)
What's in a Rainbow?
STEM Explained
Rainbows are beautiful examples of optics in nature. We see them thanks to the reflection and refraction of visible light and water.
![Water: A Natural Reflector Water: A Natural Reflector](/sites/default/files/styles/resource_card_image_360x300_/public/PM_Water_Reflector.jpg?itok=0C01YEYB)
Reflectors
Picture Collections
7 images of some objects that can reflect light such as mirrors, Mylar balloons and water