Blind Spot
Outcome
Find a spot in your eye where you can't see anything!
What You Need:
Paper, Marker, Ruler
Procedure
- 1. To find your blind spot, take a piece of paper and draw a small X on the right side.
- 2. Now, take your ruler and measure about 5 inches to the left of the X.
- 3. Draw a dot there about the size of a penny.
- 4. Hold the paper in front of you and close your right eye. Look at the X. Even though you're looking at the X you should be able to see the dot out of the corner of your eye.
- 5. Slowly move the paper in front of you. Try moving it left and right or closer and farther away. Remember to keep looking at the X. At a certain point, the dot will seem to disappear out of the corner of your eye.
Conclusion
Here's the sci scoop on why this works: On the back of your eye, your retina, you have cells called rods and cones that catch light and send messages to your brain along your nerves, which are like wires. All your nerves go through your retina in just one spot. In this spot, there are no rods and cones. Since you don't have any rods and cones there to catch light, you can't see with that part of your eye.
The reason you don't notice your blind spot is because your brain fills in that part of your vision with what it thinks should be there. So when the dot goes into your blind spot, your brain fills in that space with the color of your paper because that's what surrounds it.
How big is your blind spot? Will the dot still disappear if it's as big as a quarter? How about if it's a different shape, like a square or a star? Try it out !!!
