Prep: 15 mins | Activity: 15-30 mins
This short, individual engagement activity introduces the senses, sensation and perception, and evolutionary differences in predator-prey relationships. Students differentiate binocular vison and panoramic vision, determine their own ocular dominance, calculate class data percentages, and determine if a relationship appears to exist between ocular dominance and handedness.
How does the brain process information from both eyes?
Planning and Carrying Out Investigations
LS1.D: Information Processing
Systems and System Models
Ensure that students understand and adhere to safety practices. Know and follow all federal, state, and local regulations as well as school district guidelines for the disposal of laboratory wastes. Students should not eat, drink, or chew gum in the lab and should wash their hands after entering and before exiting the lab.
Print or gather the images for the activity. Hang the images, at student eye level, around the room for easy access by several students at a time. Ensure students can stand 2.5 to 3.0 m, (8-10 ft.) from the image. Prepare a class data table with columns for student, ocular dominance, handedness, and match/nonmatch.
Ask students the following questions:
Which type of ocular dominance do you have? (right eye dominant, left eye dominant, or none)
Student answers will vary.
Are you right-handed, left-handed, or ambidextrous?
Student answers will vary. The choices are right-handed, left-handed, and ambidextrous.
Does your ocular dominance match your handedness?
Student answers will vary.
Record your information on the class data table.
Data table columns for class data: Student, Ocular Dominance, Handedness, Match/Nonmatch.
Calculate the percentage of right, left, and no ocular dominance.
To calculate percentage, add the number of students with right ocular dominance and divide by the total number of students. Repeat for left dominance and no dominance. % = number or students in the group/total number of students
Calculate the percentage of right- and left-handedness.
% =number or students in the group/total number of students
Were your class proportions what you expected they would be? If your class proportion is different, why do you think this was so? It is estimated that about two-thirds of all people have a dominant right eye, and one-third have a dominant left eye. In rare cases, neither eye is dominant. Communicate these proportions to students again.
Student answers will vary.
Based on the class proportions, does there seem to be a relationship between ocular dominance and handedness? Use data to justify your answer.
Student answers will vary based on calculated percentages, but ocular dominance is independent of handedness.
*Next Generation Science Standards® is a registered trademark of Achieve. Neither Achieve nor the lead states and partners that developed the Next Generation Science Standards were involved in the production of, and do not endorse, these products.
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