Lesson 3 - Glasses, Why Some People Need Them

Jeff and Arthur pose for the camera with their glasses.

Glasses, Whey Some People Need Them covers the vision diagnoses that result in the prescription of glasses, who those individuals are that perform the examinations leading to the diagnoses, and how those examinations are performed.

Objectives	Children will discover how vision impairment feels and looks. Children will learn how vision can be improved or corrected by wearing glasses.
Key Vocabulary	Ophthalmologist Optometrist Optician Visual acuity '20/20 vision Near vision Peripheral vision Eye muscle coordination Depth perception Color distinction Lenses Converging Diverging Myopia Hyperopia Presbyopia Refractive error Hereditary Astigmatism Strabismus Amblyopia Ptosis Cataract Binocular vision Color blindness Retinopathy of prematurity Glaucoma
Did You Know	One in every 12 males is color blind.
Online Lesson	Online Lesson: L3_glasses SCORM-compliant download PBA URL for online lesson: www.preventblindness.net/L3
Key Discussion Points	Why do people wear glasses? How do they help people? Glasses can help people see better. Special coating on glasses protect our eyes from the sun. Special lenses can be made to protect our eyes from injuries. What different kinds of glasses do people wear? Sunglasses, safety glasses, swimming goggles... Have you ever had to wear a patch over an eye? Do you know anyone that has? Why do you think the patch was worn? Read a book from the reading list and discuss it as a class.

National Health Education Standards
Standard 1 (K-4) (3); (5-8) (3)
Standard 2 (K-4) (2); (5-8) (2)

National Science Education Standards
Science as Inquiry Standard A (K-4) (5-8)
Science as Inquiry Standard C (K-4)
Science as Inquiry Standard F (5-8)

Reading List

Arthur's Eyes by Marc Brown, Little Brown and Company, 1979, (for younger children).
His friends tease Arthur when he gets glasses, but he soon learns to wear them with pride.

Cromwell's Glasses by Holly Keller, Greenwillow Books, 1982, (for younger children).
Cromwell the rabbit is clumsy and slow until he gets glasses.

Eyes and Their Care by Brian Ward, F. Watts, 1990, (for older children).
Describes the construction of the human eye and discusses problems with sight, infections and injuries, and how these may be corrected with eyeglasses or medicines.

Glasses - Who Needs 'Em by Lane Smith, Puffin Books, 1995, (for younger children).
A boy is unhappy about having to wear glasses, until his doctor provides an imaginative list of well-adjusted eyeglass wearers.

Lenses Take a Closer Look by Siegfried Aust, Lerner Publications, 1991, (for older children).
Explains all about lenses, magnifying glasses, telescopes, microscopes, eyeglasses, vision and eye care.

Socrates by Rascal and Gert Bogaerts, Chronicle Books, 1993, (for preschool children).
When Socrates, a homeless dog, finds a pair of eyeglasses in the street, the incident benefits him in more ways than one.

Spectacles by Ellen Raskin, Antheneum, 1980, (for older children).
A nearsighted little girl talks about and shows some of the unusual things she saw before being fitted with glasses.

Watch Out Ronald Morgan by Patricia Giff, New York Viking Kestrel, 1985, (for younger children).
Ronald Morgan wears glasses and is hit in the face with a snowball.

1000 Facts of Human Body by John Farndon, 2002, New York: Barnes & Noble Books.
See pages 126-129 for fascinating facts on the eye and color vision.