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Thaumatrope

Details
Activity Length
30 mins.
Topics
Human Body
Activity Type
Make & Take
Language
English
Print

In this activity, students take advantage of persistence of vision to combine two separate images.

A thaumatrope is a toy, popular in Victorian times, that uses this persistence of vision.

This illusion takes advantage of something called "persistence of vision".

When an image is shown to your eyes, the retina keeps responding for a short time (about 1/30th of a second) after the image itself has gone away. If a new picture appears just before the previous one has faded away, your brain blends the two together.

Objectives

  • Understand that visual information is processed in the brain.

Materials

Key Questions

  • What happens when you twirl the straw?

What To Do

  1. Cut out the circles containing the bird and the branch.
  2. Tape down the straw to the backside of one of the images.
  3. Tape the backs of the 2 images together, so that the straw is between them.
  4. Spin the straw between your hands. The bird should appear on the branch.

Extensions

  • Design your own thaumatrope (e.g. fish in a bowl, spider on a web etc). The only tricky part is positioning the 2 images so that they line up correctly when you twirl them.
  • How is this optical illusion similar to the Canadian Flag After-Image?

About the sticker

Survivors

Artist: Jeff Kulak

Jeff is a senior graphic designer at Science World. His illustration work has been published in the Walrus, The National Post, Reader’s Digest and Chickadee Magazine. He loves to make music, ride bikes, and spend time in the forest.

About the sticker

Egg BB

Artist: Jeff Kulak

Jeff is a senior graphic designer at Science World. His illustration work has been published in the Walrus, The National Post, Reader’s Digest and Chickadee Magazine. He loves to make music, ride bikes, and spend time in the forest.

About the sticker

Comet Crisp

Artist: Jeff Kulak

Jeff is a senior graphic designer at Science World. His illustration work has been published in the Walrus, The National Post, Reader’s Digest and Chickadee Magazine. He loves to make music, ride bikes, and spend time in the forest.

About the sticker

T-Rex and Baby

Artist: Michelle Yong

Michelle is a designer with a focus on creating joyful digital experiences! She enjoys exploring the potential forms that an idea can express itself in and helping then take shape.

About the sticker

Buddy the T-Rex

Artist: Michelle Yong

Michelle is a designer with a focus on creating joyful digital experiences! She enjoys exploring the potential forms that an idea can express itself in and helping then take shape.

About the sticker

Geodessy

Artist: Michelle Yong

Michelle is a designer with a focus on creating joyful digital experiences! She enjoys exploring the potential forms that an idea can express itself in and helping then take shape.

About the sticker

Science Buddies

Artist: Ty Dale

From Canada, Ty was born in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1993. From his chaotic workspace he draws in several different illustrative styles with thick outlines, bold colours and quirky-child like drawings. Ty distils the world around him into its basic geometry, prompting us to look at the mundane in a different way.

About the sticker

Western Dinosaur

Artist: Ty Dale

From Canada, Ty was born in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1993. From his chaotic workspace he draws in several different illustrative styles with thick outlines, bold colours and quirky-child like drawings. Ty distils the world around him into its basic geometry, prompting us to look at the mundane in a different way.

About the sticker

Time-Travel T-Rex

Artist: Ty Dale

From Canada, Ty was born in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1993. From his chaotic workspace he draws in several different illustrative styles with thick outlines, bold colours and quirky-child like drawings. Ty distils the world around him into its basic geometry, prompting us to look at the mundane in a different way.

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