I'd play with textures and some of the other objects. Go through the 
docs and try the many patters that are listed in sec. 4.7.7, and also 
play with different color maps and turbulence:

[your_object_type]{ //You can use any object to play with textures...
   [your_object_definition]
   pigment{
     [your_pattern] //(see section 4.7.7)
     color_map{     //Start with a simple color_map like the one below,
                    //then experiment. (see sec. 4.7.1.3)
       [0 rgb 0]
       [1 rgb 1]
     }
     turbulence 0 //start with turbulence 0, then increase turbulence and
                  //see what happens
   }
}

Then experiment with normals in a similar manner:

[your_object_type]{ //You can use any object to play with textures...
   [your_object_definition]

   pigment{  //Start with pigment{rgb 1} when playing with normals
     [your_pigment]
   }

   normal{
     [your_pattern] 1    //Or "your_pattern 0.5," etc. The number changes
                         //the degree of effect the normal has.
   }

}

Hopefully my pseudocode makes sense to you. Here's some examples:

Pigment:

sphere{
   <0,0,0>,1
   pigment{
     bozo
     color_map{
       [0 rgb 0]
       [1 rgb 1]
     }
     turbulence 0.25
   }
}

Normal:

box{
   <-1,-1,-1>,<1,1,1>
   pigment{
     rgb 1
   }

   normal{
     wrinkles 1
   }
}


One object that's fun to play with is the Julibrot (in POV it's called 
"julia-fractal.") You can give it different settings and have 
interesting results without too much trouble.

If your students are mathematically minded and you are using MegaPOV, 
you can play with isosurfaces, too.

John Haiducek

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