Bionic eye module 2
Overview
Learning Outcome: Students construct a representation of the human eye to illustrate how an image is produced on the retina.
Module summary
Students explore the ‘science of seeing’, through challenges to their pre-existing understandings and through analysis of the components of the human eye. Students will interact with models, perform a dissection of a cow’s eye (real or virtual) and construct a representation of the human eye to investigate how light produces an image on the retina.
Design descriptors
- Students complete a quiz to identify any misconceptions related to light and seeing.
- Students complete a range of investigations to challenge common misconceptions.
- Students use a model to explore how an image is constructed on the retina using a lens system.
- Students dissect a cows eye (virtually or in the lab) to learn the components of the eye.
- Students construct a representation of the eye to demonstrate how optics focus an image on the retina.
Key concepts and key skills
- Students make predictions about what happens to light when it travels through a lens.
- Students make observations about what happens when light travels through a lens and explain their observations using ray diagrams.
Assumptions/Prior knowledge
- None specified through it is anticipated that students will be starting the outcome with a series of misconceptions.
Misconceptions (common, not exhaustive)
- Light just exists and has no origin.
- You can see in the dark.
- Light does not need to enter the eye for vision of objects to occur (i.e. light only needs to illuminate an object).
- Sight is an active process where something leaves the eyes (i.e. feeling a stare).
- Objects emit light (as opposed to reflecting light).
- Objects do not reflect light (light remains with the object).
- Light only travels short distances or not at all.
- Light can only be reflected off shiny surfaces.