Sense of Sight - A Few Experiments Worth Seeing

In studying about our Fives Senses, we have enjoyed exploring our sense of touch, hearing, and taste. Our most recent exploration has been with our sense of sight. We rely very much on our sight to move around and see things every day. Our eyes are very complex in how they work. Home Science Tools gives a great explanation: How do our eyes work? The little dark circle in the center of each of your eyes lets light in. It is called a pupil. If you are in a dark place where no lights at all are on, can you see anything? No, you can’t because our eyes need light to be able to see! Once the light goes in, it hits a part inside at the back of your eye that is very sensitive to light. This part is called the retina. When light touches the retina, it makes an upside-down picture of whatever you are looking at. A large nerve called the optic nerve carries the image to your brain where it gets turned around so that you see it the right way instead of upside-down!

Eye Diagram from Kidshealth.org

We also found a great video for kids to explain how the sense of sight works too. Click here to view. We did a few experiments to make us think about how we use our eyes every day. Our first experiment was writing with a blindfold on. He realized right away how challenging it was to write without using our sense of sight.

Next we looked at different objects. We used our sense of sight to describe the color and shape of each object. We then played a fun game where we placed all of the objects on a piece of paper. I put the blindfold over his eyes. I removed one object. Then he had to remember what he saw and tell me which object went missing.

Our last experiment was to walk slowly with our blindfold on. This was done carefully, with adult supervision, so if you decide to try this one, make sure your little one walks very slowly!

A lot of conversation came out of these experiments. We talked about how some people have impaired vision and use glasses to help see better. We talked about how some people have complete loss of vision and are blind. I explained about how blind people or partially sighted people use braille to read and write. You can read more about braille and the braille alphabet here.

Our eyes are fascinating indeed, in the way that they work. We rely on our eyes very much, and also from the very moment we wake up! They sure do a lot a lot of great things for us and help us see many wonders of life and the world – make sure to take good care of them!