Research - Use a variety of media, to research the following types of eyeglasses: traditional eyeglasses for nearsightedness and farsightedness, bifocal lenses, monocles or eye rings, lorgnette glasses, contact lenses, bifocal contact lenses, sunglasses, or pince-nez glasses. Identify other types of eyeglasses to research. Present your findings to classmates.

Writing/Research - Pretend you are visiting an eye doctor because you may need eyeglasses. While in the doctor's office you see a pamphlet that describes how the eye of a person that is nearsighted is different from the normal eye. Create a pamphlet that explains this information, and describes what type of lenses would be needed in glasses to correct nearsightedness (myopia).

Careers - Conduct an interview with an optometrist or ophthalmologist, or both. Interview questions would differ considerably based on the fact that an ophthalmologist has a medical degree and an optometrist is a technician.

Reading - Read The Eyes of Kid Midas by Neal Shusterman (ISBN 0812534603). In the story, a young boy finds a pair of magic sunglasses that grant him every wish. He struggles with using the glasses for personal gain and must decide whether or not to keep the glasses.

Inventions/History - Believe it or not, sunglasses are not a twentieth century invention. The Inuit people used materials from their environment to fashion protective eyewear to cut down on the sun's glare many years before. They needed to protect themselves from the blinding glare called "snow blindness," which occurs when light reflects off snow. Items used to make these sunglasses were driftwood, deer's hooves, and baleen (whalebone). Research the development of protective eyewear and invent or design a type of protective eyewear out of unusual materials found in nature.

BACK TO ACTIVITIES IN OPTICS

BACK TO THE TEACHER GUIDEBOOK

Questions or comments? Send us an email.

© 1995-2022 by Michael W. Davidson, the Center for Integrating Research and Learning, and The Florida State University. All Rights Reserved. No images, graphics, software, scripts, or applets may be reproduced or used in any manner without permission from the copyright holders. Use of this website means you agree to the Legal Terms and Conditions set forth by the owners.

This website is maintained by our
Graphics & Web Programming Team
in collaboration with Optical Microscopy at the
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory.

Last Modification Friday, Nov 13, 2015 at 01:19 PM

Access Count Since November 1st, 2000: 45432

Visit the websites of our partners in education: