Sample Standard: Describe the anatomy and localized function of given brain areas
Grade Level: 6-8
Time: 15-20 minutes
Materials: White chart paper, magnifying glasses, colored pencils
Group Size: Any. Partner students together
Purpose: To introduce a lesson on retinal function
Activity:
- Provide students with magnifying glasses (each student in the partnership needs to be able to experience this activity)
- Tape a clean sheet of chart paper on a wall next to a window.
- Have the students hold the magnifying glass close to the white paper and look through it and see what is outside the window as well as the chart paper. Whatever is outside the window will appear upside down on the paper.
- Have the students draw what they see on the paper.
- Bring the whole group back together and have them guess why this happens.
- This replicates the lens of our eye which is convex. This turns the image upside down on the retina and causes the brain to flip it right side up so that we can make sense of what we are seeing.
Adaptation for Below- Level or ELL Students:
- Provide the students with a diagram of the eye and brain to help explain the process of retinal imaging.
Submitted by Priscilla Shumway, a former teacher who is currently a training consultant with the Bob Pike Group.
