Kids Science

How do we see?

Your eyes are at work from the moment you wake up to the moment you close them to go to sleep. They take in tons of information about the world around you - shapes, colours, movements, and more.

Then they send the information to your brain for processing so the brain knows what's going on outside of your body.You can see that the eye's pretty amazing. So, come on - let's take a tour of its many parts.

The eye is about as big as a ping-pong ball and sits in a little hollow area (the eye socket) in the skull.

The eyelid protects the front part of the eye. The lid helps keep the eye clean and moist by opening and shutting several times a minute.

This is called blinking, and it's both a voluntary and involuntary action, meaning you can blink whenever you want to,but it also happens without you even thinking about it.

The eyelid also has great reflexes, which are automatic body responses that protect the eye.

When you step into bright light, for example, the eyelids squeeze together tightly to protect your eyes until they can adjust to the light.

And if you flutter your fingers close (but not too close!) to your friend's eyes, you'll be sure to see your friend's eyes blink. Your friend's eyelids shut automatically to protect the eye from possible danger.

And speaking of fluttering, don't forget eyelashes. They work with the eyelids to keep dirt and other unwanted stuff out of your eyes.

The eye is about as big as a ping-pong ball and sits in a little hollow area (the eye socket) in the skull