Eyes

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_Did ^you know_?

"Seeing in the dark" is actually just seeing shades of gray.
Eating carrots can actually improve your vision at night.

As you know, your eyes are important. Without eyes, you couldn't see anything at all. You couldn't see a wall until you walked into it. You couldn't watch television. You couldn't even read these words! This is why you must keep your eyes healthy.

Have you ever wondered how your eyes are able to see? Well when you look at something, there are things in your eyes called cones and rods that help you see.

Cones
Cones are small nerve endings that, when you look at something, figure out how much red, green, and blue is in each part of what you are looking at. Why red, green, and blue? Because with those three colors, you can mix them in different ways to get any other color! Now the cones know the color of what you are looking at. Rods
Rods are much like cones, but they have a different shape and instead of detecting color, they detect light and dark. They tell how much gray is in a picture. If you didn't have cones, you would see in black and white! When you "see" at night, since there is no color, you are seeing only shades of black and white. Without rods, when the light goes out you would be blinded!

The cones and rods make a great team. However, there are other parts of your eye that help out a lot!

Sclera
The sclera (pronounced "ska-le-ra") covers your eye and protects it. It is the white of the eye. Cornea
The cornea is like the window of the eye. It is what you see through.

Iris
Your iris is the colored part of the eye. If you have blue eyes, you have blue irises. Optic Nerve
The optic nerve transmits the image to the brain. The brain then understands what you are looking at.

Retina
The retina is the part along the back of the eye that changes the image to a message for your brain to interpret after the rods and cones have done their part. Pupil
The pupil is the dark circle in the center of the eye. If you go into a dark place, the pupil becomes larger so that it can let more light into your eye. Likewise, in a bright place it becomes smaller to allow less light through (to protect your eye).

Let's see... next on the list is treatments for common problems with eyes!
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Cones Cones are small nerve endings that, when you look at something, figure out how much red, green, and blue is in each part of what you are looking at. Why red, green, and blue? Because with those three colors, you can mix them in different ways to get any other color! Now the cones know the color of what you are looking at.		Rods Rods are much like cones, but they have a different shape and instead of detecting color, they detect light and dark. They tell how much gray is in a picture. If you didn't have cones, you would see in black and white! When you "see" at night, since there is no color, you are seeing only shades of black and white. Without rods, when the light goes out you would be blinded!

The cones and rods make a great team. However, there are other parts of your eye that help out a lot!

Sclera The sclera (pronounced "ska-le-ra") covers your eye and protects it. It is the white of the eye.		Cornea The cornea is like the window of the eye. It is what you see through.

Iris Your iris is the colored part of the eye. If you have blue eyes, you have blue irises.		Optic Nerve The optic nerve transmits the image to the brain. The brain then understands what you are looking at.

Retina The retina is the part along the back of the eye that changes the image to a message for your brain to interpret after the rods and cones have done their part.		Pupil The pupil is the dark circle in the center of the eye. If you go into a dark place, the pupil becomes larger so that it can let more light into your eye. Likewise, in a bright place it becomes smaller to allow less light through (to protect your eye).