Bend a pencil without magic

 

Bend a pencil without magic
Explore how light can trick your eyes and learn about light refraction with your kids with this easy fun kids science experiment. Bending a pencil is easier than you think and your kids will love showing this experiment to their friends.
Number of players:
2+
What you need:
Pencil
Water
Clear glass
Activity:
Half a fill a glass with water.
Place the pencil in the water.
Look at the pencil from the top.
Now look at the pencil from the side.
Does the pencil look bent?
Think the light is playing a trick on your eyes? Well it is!
Notes
This is an example of refraction. The pencil is straight, but the light passing through water is making the pencil look bent.