A picture is worth a thousand words. Photographs shape our sense of history and document our lives.

The simplest camera works with nothing more than a dark box and a tiny hole.

Build a simple camera with household materials.

Enjoy some startling real-life examples of pinhole imaging!

Fun questions to see how much you have learned.

Newton's discovery that white light is a mixture of many colors − the colors of a rainbow.
Courtesy: MadDogScience, Youtube.

A hands-on project to confirm Newton's hypothesis that mixing the colors of a rainbow produces white light.

A brief video explaining the nature of light as a wave.
Credit: Derek Owens, Youtube.

Different colored lights correspond to different wavelengths.
Credit: Derek Owens, Youtube.

Light that is visible to the human eye is in fact a tiny portion of the range of electromagnetic waves.
Credit: Derek Owens, Youtube.

Humans actually sense only three colors − Red, Green and Blue. But, these primary colors can be mixed to perceive millions of colors.

The first color photograph, taken in 1861, is a combination of three black and white photos taken with the three primary color filters, respectively.

The eye and the brain can trick us into seeing colors and patterns that aren't there.

Fun questions to see how much you have learned.

When a ray of light passes from one clear material to another, it bends at the boundary.

Clear glasses can be shaped to converge or diverge light.

A thin convex lens can be used to capture photos.

Build your own lens camera using simple components.

The giant camera built by Robert Lawrence in 1900.

Explore two important properties that guide the design of camera lenses.

Play with the aperture and focal length to create a sharp image.

Blending art and science to make camera lenses. Credit: Discovery Channel, YouTube.

Fun questions to see how much you have learned.

A light-sensitive plate that records and image.

Documentary on George Eastman and his revolutionary impact on film photography. Credit: PBS American Experience. YouTube.

Documentary on George Eastman and his revolutionary impact on film photography. Credit: PBS American Experience. YouTube.

Documentary on George Eastman and his revolutionary impact on film photography. Credit: PBS American Experience. YouTube.

In digital photography, film is replaced by electronic image sensor.

A pixel (short for picture element) is the basic unit of an image sensor.

A complete image is captured by pixels arranged in a rectangular grid.

Image sensors are color blind. By using a simple trick with primary color filters, we can capture full color images.

Fun questions to see how much you have learned.

Explore the anatomy of the human eye.

Build a simple device that mimics image formation in the eye.

Everyone has a blind spot in their field of view.

Things are not always what they appear to be. Certain patterns and designs trick the brain to produce illusions.

Some people cannot see certain colors. This alters the way they perceive the world.

Fun questions to see how much you have learned.

Build a simple device to project images onto walls.

The simple projector we built above was thought to be magic in 1600s.

Introduction to modern displays used in computers and smartphones.

The phenomenon of restricting the plane of light waves to a certain orientation.

A polarizing filter coltrols brightness by allowing only a portion of light to pass through based on their orientation and the polarization of the the light.

Liquid crystals control the polarization of light passing through them.

Visualize the structure and working of a single LCD pixel.

Bill takes apart an LCD monitor and shows how it works. He explains how it uses liquid crystals, thin film transistors and polarizers to display information. Credit: Bill Hammack. YouTube.

Fun questions to see how much you have learned.

Make a simple iron nail behave like a magnet by running electric current around it.

A couple of interesting facts about magnets.

Generate electric current using magnets and wires to make a light bulb glow.

The world's first electric generator built by Michael Faraday. Credit: Veritasium. YouTube.

Learn how small electricity generators work.

Fun questions to see how much you have learned.

Make a coil spin using magnets and electric current.

See how gears are mostly used to transfer the rotation about one point to another.

A train of gears of different sizes can be used to increase or decrease the speed of rotation.

Fun questions to see how much you have learned.

Carefully follow steps to assemble the Bigshot camera.

Identify and learn what each electronic component does.

Visualize what happens inside the camera when the shoot button is pressed.

Experiment with your camera. Shoot from different angles. Shoot from closer or farther. Play with lighting. Try different lenses.

A simple rule for framing photos that yields visually pleasing results.

To achieve a strong 3D effect, shoot 1-4 feet away from the subject.