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DISCUSS:

What do you think is special about nocturnal animal eyes that makes them able to see in the dark? Any ideas?

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DISCUSS: Why do you think these animals can see better in the dark than we can?

Eye Comparison

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nocturnal

1 of 12

active mostly at night

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vision

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the ability to see

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light

3 of 12

what comes from the Sun and lamps and makes it possible to see things

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pupil

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the dark opening in the center of the eye

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iris

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the colored part of the eye that is shaped like a donut

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model

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a pretend version of something that scientists use when the real thing is too big, small, or complicated to work with

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experiment

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a test used to discover new information about a question

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retina

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the back of the eye that senses light and sends messages to the brain

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structure

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the specific form and shape of something

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function

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what something does

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reflect

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when light bounces off something

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dissect

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to take something apart to study it

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Image & Video Credits

Mystery Science respects the intellectual property rights of the owners of visual assets. We make every effort to use images and videos under appropriate licenses from the owner or by reaching out to the owner to get explicit permission. If you are the owner of a visual and believe we are using it without permission, please contact us—we will reply promptly and make things right.

Exploration

dilapidated house by Downtowngal , used under CC BY-SA

manhattan by Leifern , used under CC BY-SA

optical illusion by Edgar Mueller , used under CC BY-ND

for rent sign by Bart Everson , used under CC BY-SA

brain by _DJ_ , used under CC BY-SA

flashlight by Stocksnapper

little girl by ANURAK PONGPATIMET

cat dilated pupils by Andreibanc , used under Public Domain

monster flashlight outside by youshoojump

raccoons in cherry tree by AndrewBrownsword , used under CC BY-SA

old woman by beeboys

racoons peaking out by mountainamoeba , used under CC BY

racoons climbing by hobvias sudoneighm , used under CC BY

camping by Zachary Collier , used under CC BY-SA

family by Michael Bentley , used under CC BY-SA

raccoon by Jinterwas , used under CC BY-SA

pizza by The Pizza Review , used under CC BY-SA

cat by ch2daewong

scientist lab computer by Rhoda Baer , used under Public Domain

brains by Prylarer , used under Public Domain

owl by Hector Bottai , used under CC BY-SA

brain background by Simon , used under Public Domain

deer by harrystilianou002

little girl sleeping by Petra , used under Public Domain

sheep brain by Aaron Bornstein , used under CC BY-SA

surgery by skeeze , used under Public Domain

gears by Libertad , used under Public Domain

lightbulb by Greg Westfall , used under CC BY-SA

eyeballs by Patrick J. Lynch , used under CC BY-SA

eyeballs connected to brain by Pete Linforth , used under Public Domain

ambulance by Canuckle , used under CC BY-SA

green eye by Pedramiri , used under CC BY-SA

business cards by Niek Verlaan , used under Public Domain

iPhone by Hurk , used under Public Domain

nervous system by Chris , used under CC BY-SA

old photograph by Michal Jarmoluk , used under Public Domain

Inside Out by Disney / "fair use" ??

light switch by Martin Cathrae , used under CC BY-SA

door by r. nial bradshaw , used under CC BY

cat's eyes by Takuma Kimura , used under CC BY-SA

owl's eyes by Airwolfhound , used under CC BY-SA

rodents eyes by Arjan Haverkamp , used under CC BY-SA

night sky by Hector Bayes M , used under CC BY-SA

moon by lovecatz , used under CC BY-SA

tarsier by JennyHuang , used under CC BY-SA

tarsier in tree by David Evison

gecko by Megan

Crested Gecko pupil response by JB's Cresties

dog in the dark by Rennett Stowe , used under CC BY-SA

deer at night by lovecatz , used under CC BY-SA

cow at night by Clark

cow eye dissection by Project NEURON , used under CC BY

making tape glow on bike by Hyper Spectrum Reflective

masking tape by TapeCase

making tape glow video by Steve Cole

cat by Andrew Gatt , used under CC BY

dog by Thirteen of Clubs , used under CC BY-SA

crocodile by sodai gomi , used under CC BY

face in dark by Natalie 93

photographer by fedi

red-eye effect humans by PeterPan23

red eyes by Mikael Häggström

Activity

racoons by USFWS Mountain-Prarie , used under CC BY

first face by Konstantin Chagin

second face by pathdoc

pupil response by Hasan Sawan

two lizards by Ltshears , used under CC BY-SA

graphic pencil by JohannPoufPouf , used under Public Domain

Other

Unit: black cat, green eyes by LisaRedfern

Credits

“We loved the suspenseful story leading up to the mystery of how animals see in the dark. It was a great extended lesson to the previous human eye experiment. It was fun to see how a smaller pupil made a sharper image. Students loved the discovery process. ”

“The kids loved seeing pupils grow and shrink in response to light. This activity was a great follow-up to our cow dissection. The kids had seen the tapetum in the dissection, and we had discussed its purpose, but seeing it in action in this lesson made it real for them.”

“The kids' reactions when they saw each other's pupils get smaller, and again when they pulled the pupil card out of their model! They couldn't stop talking about their eyes as they went out to lunch!”

“From the materials share at the beginning of the lesson, students were able to come to their own, correct, conclusions about how some animals see in the dark and why humans have more difficulty with this. Great inquiry learning.”

“My students loved the activity with the pupils. We turned out the lights and I closed my eyes while they counted. The light went on, I opened my eyes and they started screaming. My pupils must have really contracted quickly!! It was great!!”

“This lesson really lends itself to rich scientific discussion. In most of the Mysteries the Activity is usually the best part, but the discussion that this lesson generates is some of the best I have ever had in my classroom. We even started talking about that weird "red-eye flash" flash that happens with some cameras. Because of this lesson students were able to conclude that the rapid orange flash was probably designed to close your pupil enough to reduce red-eye. Very cool.”

“When my class started this mystery, we had a lot of misconceptions about animals and how they would see a t night. They loved the part when we discovered the reason for their pets having a certain color of eyes when light flashes across them. What a great mystery! ”

Pupil Card printout	1 per student
Eye Model from Previous Lesson Students need the eye models that they created in the previous Lesson.	Details 1 per student
Markers Students should use the same color that they used to color the iris in Lesson 2. Crayons or colored pencils also work.	Details 1 marker per student
Scissors	1 pair per student

How can some animals see in the dark?

nocturnal

vision

light

pupil

iris

model

experiment

retina

structure

function

reflect

dissect

Image & Video Credits

7 mins

30 mins

8 mins

Extend this lesson

Vocabulary

Unit Reading

Discussions

Mini-lessons

Transcripts

How can some animals see in the dark?

nocturnal

vision

light

pupil

iris

model

experiment

retina

structure

function

reflect

dissect

Image & Video Credits

Featured Reviews

Activity Prep

Watch This Quick Video

7 mins

30 mins

8 mins

Extend this lesson

Vocabulary

Unit Reading

Reading in the Dark

Discussions

Mini-lessons

Transcripts

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