3 rectangular pieces of mirror or mirrored cardboard cut to the same size.
Tape
Tracing paper
Plastic film (Gladwrap) or a transparency sheet
Scissors
Sequins, coloured paper, confetti
What to do
Lay the mirrors or mirror board face down side by side, long edges touching. Tape the long edges together, leaving a 2mm gap between each mirror.
Pick the three connected mirrors up and tape the outside edges together to make a triangular tube. The reflective surface of the mirrors is on the inside of the tube. The mirrors should be at 60 degree angles to each other. You have made an equilateral triangle tube. At this stage have a look through the tube – wow, the world is an amazing place.
Cut a square of tracing (or greaseproof) paper and fold around one end of the mirror tube. Stick on with tape.
Place very small coloured pieces of sequin, glitter and paper on the outside of the paper.
Stick a piece of clear plastic film or transparency on the very outside over the small coloured pieces to ensure they will not escape.
Have a look through the kaleidoscope at the patterns you have created.
Experiment with different coloured cellophane filters, or increase the number of mirrors used to build the tube.
What's happening?
A kaleidoscope is made from mirrors placed at angles to each other. The viewer looks in one end and light enters the other end which is reflected off the mirrors. Reflection is when light bounces off a surface at the exact angle it enters. As the tube is rotated, the tumbling coloured objects present the viewer with varying colours and patterns. These show up as symmetrical patterns due to the reflections in the mirrors. When the mirrors are set at 60 degree angle it creates six sets of reflected images.
Applications
The kaleidoscope was invented in 1816 by the physicist Sir David Brewster while conducting experiments on light polarisation. Brewster's kaleidoscope was initially intended as a science tool but was quickly copied as a toy. The name is derived from the Greek words kalos (“beautiful”), eïdos (“form”), and skopeïn (“to view”).
