“WE ARE WASHINGTON: INSIDE THE FAIR”Practicing Peripheral Vision
Objective
Demonstrate understanding of peripheral vision through experiential learning and video watching analysis.
Materials
Colored paper, colored markers, big piece of butcher paper or a page of newspaper.
Lesson 1
1.
Seeing something out of the corner of your eye is called peripheral vision. To find out how well you can see
something moving; or a color, shape and or detail with your peripheral vision, cut out a different shape from
each different color of paper. Suggested shapes are a square, a circle and a triangle.
2.
Write a different letter of the alphabet on each shape.
3.
Stand on a piece of butcher paper or newspaper and have a friend draw a semicircle about arm’s length
away from your feet.
4. Look straight ahead while your friend holds a shape and walks around the outside of the semicircle he or she drew.
5.
Describe when you first notice anything moving, what shape and color it is and what letter (detail) is on it.
Be sure to keep looking straight ahead!
6.
Ask another friend to write “motion,” “color,” “detail” or “shape” at those spots on the semicircle where you first
saw those things.
7.
Now switch roles and use a different colored marker to mark the semicircle for each friend.
8.
Compare your results. Did you see the same things at the same points on the semicircle? Did you see each thing
in the same order? Did some people see something first but see others last? How good is your peripheral vision?
Is it better when you’re in a bright room or a dark room?
Lesson 2
Watch the video clip on the use of peripheral vision in basketball at
and answer the following questions:
1.
How much faster does Corey react in the first trial? How many feet of separation does that translate to?
2.
Why does the separation get greater as the trigger lights get further apart?
3.
What was the end result of the experiment on who reacts more quickly to objects in the corner of their eyes?
4. What function do receptor cones and receptor rods have?
5.
How does basketball player Steve Nash use peripheral vision?
6.
How does the phrase “eyes in the back of one’s head” relate to the scientific concept of peripheral vision?
Sources
Additional resources:
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vision_activity1.xml
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