Now, the name didn't help me expect what the game really was all about. See when I saw the word optics, I really couldn't tell you what that means. And when I saw the word Workbench, I though of a bench that you sit on, and maybe where you work. Not a whole lot of fun-sounding, to tell you the truth.

To my fascination, though, it turns out that optics involve mirrors, prisms and lenses, anything that affects the way that light moves. That made me think about optical illusions, which may use different forms of mirrors.

As I understand it now, based on playing this game, optics is a science relating to vision and light.

The word workbench just means a sturdy table where manual work is done. So I guess the word workbench in this game refers to the place where the optics are set down and worked on.

When I clicked to start the game, I didn't know what to expect. I read the instructions for the first level, which just stated, "There are 11 rays of light leaving the flashlight. Your job is to get at least 7 of them to reach the candle wick."

On your menu you have a number of items: a convex lens, a concave lens, a mirror, and a prism. You drag one of the items on to the "workbench," and try to make the item reflect the light rays from the flashlight to light the candle. If you reflect 7 of the rays to the wick of the candle, your candle will light, letting you accomplish that task and finish the level.

The first one is not too tough, but the levels get harder, especially as you encounter larger or smaller wicks.

At first, I really didn't understand what a convex lens and a concave lens were, but now I have a better idea. A convex lens is the most commonly seen lens. This lens is usually used for close examination of small objects, for example stamps, or old coins.

Kids like you and me also probably have used this lens but didn't know it. For instance, when you use a magnifying glass to concentrate light from the sun on a piece of paper to make it burn, you are using a convex lens. When rays from a light approach this lens, they come to it parallel. That means each ray is going on a path that won't connect with each other.

As each ray reaches the glass, it refracts or deflects, according to how and where the rays arrive on the glass. Since the surface is curved, different rays will deflect to different angles, which you can see when you play the game and use this lens.

A concave lens is the total opposite of a convex lens. While a convex lens makes light refract inwards, a concave lens makes light refract outwards. Convex focuses light, convex makes it expand.

Concave lenses are used to correct short-sightedness, and convex lens are used to correct long-sightedness. While a convex lens focuses light from a distant source, a concave lens diverges light from a distant source.

Mirrors can also be concave or convex. Every mirror has a focal point, where all the light directed at that mirror converges or diverges, and the distance between the mirror and that point is called the focal length. Mirrors work like lenses but they have reflective surfaces. This will make more sense to you if you go into Club Why and play the game.

A prism is an object, usually made out of glass, with a base and end of equal size. The type in the game is made of glass and has triangular ends, used for separating white light into many colors, or for reflecting beams of light.

When I tried the game out, it was actually pretty fun. I used the mirror mostly, though, because it worked the best for me.

This game helps you learn about how light reflects to and from different objects. I would not have learned about convex lenses or concave lenses anytime soon if it wasn't for this game. I hope the Optics Workbench comes out soon for everyone to play and use to boost our salaries, because it is fun and educational at the same time -- perfect for Whyville.

This is snowgri13, getting ready for softball... which has nothing to do with light. ;-)