Dissecting an Eyeball

(Alexandra holding the un-dissected eyeball)

This week, we went to some friends house to have a lesson related to Benjamin Franklin. Since one of the girls has wanted to dissect something with me, I decided to concentrate on Franklin's invention of the bifocals and how he needed to understand something about lenses and the eye.

Basically, we talked about how lenses bend light and then used a drop of water on Syran wrap to magnify an ad. After that, we went straight to dissecting the cow's eye.

We watched each step on http://www.exploratorium.edu/learning_studio/cow_eye/ and then completed that step ourselves. It was so much fun! I hadn't dissected anything in years, and I wasn't sure how well I would handle it. But, it turned out to be fine. (Although I would like sharper scissors.) And, the other girls and the mom didn't want to touch it at first, but by the end, they were all touching it and really enjoying it!

( Alexandra is holding the lens. This was her FAVORITE part. We even saved it! I ended up chopping it in half to show a cross-section, and she cried! We are going to get another eyeball so she can save the lens!)

They want to do some more "classes" togehter and do another dissection soon. I think we'll do the sheep's heart in the next few weeks, as I already have it. We'll probably mix up another batch of "candy blood", too.

Books we enjoyed:

• Sight (A True Book) by Murphy - great book
• Buddy: The First Seeing Eye Dog by Eva Moore - we really enjoyed this true story
• The Magic School Bus Explores the Senses - great diagrams, fun story, and informational "reports"