Ambient Occlusion Exercise
Extension Activity: Multi-Color Type
Create a scene that makes use of Ambient Occlusion for shading. Try using multiple materials on your type's faces, roundings, and sides.
Extension Activity: Outdoor Daylight
Create a scene with a blue ambient sky light, and a yellowish infinite light with hard shadows to simulate sunlight. Play around with different colors, light angles, and shadows to simulate different times of day. Read Richard Yot's article on Natural Light for more information on how outdoor light looks at different times.
Extension Activity: Sprint Commercial
Try to create a scene that looks like this, with a similar camera movement.