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Are There Blind Spots in Our Eyes?

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Are There Blind Spots in Our Eyes?
Are There Blind Spots in Our Eyes?

ABSTRACT
Our eyes are vital organs because they help us visualize our surroundings. But are our eyes perfect in seeing what’s right in front of us? Sadly I learned in our evolution, nature messed up at one point and gave us blind spots in our eyes. This project shows why we have these blind spots, how to discover them, and how big they are. I researched on how our eyes see things; why when one eye is closed, the other eye sometimes can’t see what’s in front of it. I also found during my research a formula that is used to estimate the size of a human eye’s blind spot. I performed an experiment using Blind Spot Test card I made to verify the existence of blind spots in my eyes. I also collected data while testing to find the size of my blind spot. I learned the size of eyes’ blind spots varies in relation to the size of the human eyes.

QUESTION
Are there any blind spots in our eyes? If there are, how do we find them, and how big are they?

VARIABLES
Dependent Variable: Size of the blind spot in our eye
Independent Variable: Diameter of the eye

Experimental Group Controlled Variables For Each Group Child Test Subject Me Adult Test Subject My Mom

HYPOTHESIS
If I close one of my eyes, using a test card marked with different symbols then I can find my other eye’s blind spot. Add a ruler/yard stick to take measurements; I can estimate the size of that blind spot too. I think the bigger the human eye, the bigger the blind spot is.

BACKGROUND RESEARCH
The following diagram shows the anatomy of a human eye (New Translation of Laruelle’s ‘Biography of the Eye’).

Our eyes see things when light reflects off the objects goes through the pupil and sends the information to our brains. The eye and brain work together as a group that after the information gets delivered to the brain as electro-chemical signal, it is interpreted, or “seen”, as images (WebMD).

The first layer of our eye is the cornea. It is



Cited: 1. “Blind Spot: To see, or not to see”, Exploratorium, http://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/blind_spot/index.html 2. “New Translation of Laruelle’s Biography of the Eye”, Fractal Ontology, Nov 21, 2009 http://fractalontology.wordpress.com/2009/11/21/new-translation-of-laruelles-biography-of-the-eye 3. “The Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia”, Kingfisher Publications, 2006 4. “Your Eyes”, Kids Health, http://kidshealth.org/kid/htbw/eyes.html 5. “Your Guide to How the Eye Sees”, WebMD, http://www.webmd.com/eye-health/amazing-human-eye

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