Brittany Lutheran Sharpsville Area Middle School Eighth Grade

Question Will the age of a person effect how well a person can see in the dark?

Motivation The reason I chose to do my project is that my vision is not very good and I wanted to know once I get older if my vision would get worse. I also chose to test my subjects in the dark because darkness adds a challenge that I am curious about.

Research Vision is the process in which light waves from an object being looked at are registered, interpreted and stored as an image by the brain. Various malfunctions in the process of vision may occur as a person ages.

Rhodopsin is the chemical that allows night-vision. Rhodopsin in the human rods is less sensitive to the longer red wavelengths of light. Many animals have a tissue layer called the tapetum lucidum in the back of the eye that reflects light back through the retina, increasing the amount of light available for it to capture.

Hypothesis If a person’s age is increased, then the person’s ability to see in the dark will decrease.

Materials Ten people without corrective lenses Vision testing poster A dark room A box to cover light A night light Tape measure

Procedure 1.Gather ten people from the age groups of 7-8 year-olds, year-olds, and year-olds. 2.Have the vision testing poster, a dark room, and a light with a cardboard box over top ready. 3.Measure 3.7 meters from the board to where the person will be standing and 1.8 meters from the board to the light and 1.8 meters from the person to the light.

4. Take the test subject into the room and give them one minute to adjust their eyes without looking at the poster. 5. After one minute have them start reading the poster from top to bottom or until they cannot see anymore. 6. Record data and repeat with other test subjects.

Variables and Controls Independent Variable: The age of the person being tested Dependent Variable: Ability to see vision testing poster Controls: Amount of darkness, vision testing poster, distance from board

Conclusion In conclusion my hypothesis was proven correct. The 7-8 year olds had an average vision of 20/20 while the year olds had an average of 20/30 and year olds had an average of 20/50. This happened because when we age we lose eye lubrication and decreased muscle tone which affects how well we see.

Going further If I were to go further with my experiment, I would test if gender effects how well a person can see.