Lens (eye)

High school (ages 12+)
Human Body

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/lens-eye

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the scientific name?Lens crystallina
2. What is the developmental origin?Surface ectoderm, induced by the optic vesicle
3. What is the lens in the eye and why does it help us see clearly?The lens is a clear, flexible part of the eye that bends light so pictures land sharp on the retina. It is made of special cells that keep light from scattering.
4. How does the lens change shape to help us see near and far things?Muscles around the eye called the ciliary muscle pull on tiny ropes called zonules. When the muscle relaxes the lens flattens for far objects; when it contracts the lens becomes rounder for close objects.

Crystalline Lens: A transparent, biconvex structure in the eye that focuses light onto the retina.
Accommodation: The process by which the eye changes its focus for different distances.
Cataract: Clouding of the eye's lens, leading to decreased vision.
Presbyopia: Age-related farsightedness caused by loss of flexibility in the lens.