Data projectors have become a common sight in school classrooms, often in conjunction with an interactive whiteboard. Long periods of continuous use coupled with the transfer of a large amount of thermal energy from the projector's bulb means that they frequently break down, often in such a manner that they become uneconomic to repair. In this article, the operation of a data projector is discussed and the potential of a disassembled data projector for teaching light, colour and digital photography is examined. For the purposes of this article the term "data projector" will refer to 3LCD projectors, the type most commonly found in classrooms; digital light processing projectors are discussed briefly at the end of the article. (Contains 10 figures.)