Introduction
Except for your brain, the eyes are the most complex organ you possess. Your eyes are composed of over two million working parts and their coordinated action can instantaneously set in motion hundreds of muscles and organs in the body. Your eyes allow you to track a fly ball into a baseball glove. They can help you pick out the perfect color to paint your room. Your eyes can help you find your best friend at a crowded concert. These amazing organs process light in a way that allows us to perceive color, to judge depth, to sense movement, and to enjoy optical illusions. All these components of a visual scene mergeso we have one combined sensory experience.
In Activity 2.4.1, you explored the anatomy of the eye and began to think about the function of each structure you dissected. The cornea and lens of the eye bend or refract light rays as they enterthe eye so that focused images fall on the retina. If the eyeball is an abnormal shape, the light will not focus on the correct point in the eyeball and vision may become blurry. Corrective lens can be used to compensate for this change in shape and bring the world back into focus.
In this activity, you will visit eleven different stations that will allow you to explore the physiology of human vision. You will perform a series of tests to explore and assess many characteristics of human visual perception, including visual acuity, depth perception, color vision, peripheral vision and illusions. You will also use a replica of the human eye to explore how the eye focuses light and how corrective lenses can help fix problems with this focus. At each station, think about how the property you are working with is related to the specific structure of the eye.
Equipment
Computer with Internet access
Carolina Visual Perception Kit
Snellen Eye Examination Chart
Astigmatism Test Chart
Holmgren-type Color Vision Test
Depth Perception Tester
Peripheral Vision