Can you eyes be fooled into seeing colors that aren't actually there? Budding scientists view a presentation that addresses this topic. They explore how their eyes interpret color through the retinas and messages sent to the brain. They then learn about the benefits and limits to human color perception.

Concepts

colors, receptors, retina, light

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Additional Tags

science

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Instructional Ideas

• Discuss how common color blindness is and ask if anyone knows they have it before beginning the experiment
• Advanced students can discuss the lack of heredity in color perception as well as why color perception seems to vary by race

Classroom Considerations

• Requires printing in color for the demonstration to work properly

Pros

• Includes many teaching notes and background information
• Links to multiple studies and tests for color blindness

Cons

• None

Common Core

RST.6-8.3 RST.6-8.4 RST.9-10.3 RST.9-10.4 RST.11-12.3 RST.11-12.4