What makes eyes green, brown or blue?
and...
How do I see when I look at you?
What makes eyes green, brown or blue?
Eye color is mostly determined by something called melanin,
which is the pigment in our eyes, skin, and hair.
The amount of melanin you have is determined by your genes,
which you get from your parents.
Each gene is made up of two parts, called alleles.
You get one allele from each parent.
Some alleles are stronger, making them dominant, over the weaker ones.
The combination of alleles you have is what determines your eye color: usually darker colors are dominant over lighter ones; someone with a blue and a brown allele will usually have brown eyes, but someone with two blue alleles will have blue ones.
See for yourself: MAKE AN EYE COLOR CHART
Note the eye color of everyone in your family, and make a chart – called a Punnett Square – showing your father’s alleles on one side, and your mother’s on the other:
Use this to determine all the different possible combinations of children’s eye color:
How do I see when I look at you?
Eyes of any color are amazing! Our eyes enable us to see our friends,
read a book, or find a missing shoe!
But just how do they do it?
The secret to how we see is light. Light reflects off of everything we see,
passes through the lens, and finally hits the optic nerve,
which transfers images straight to our brain, so we process what we are seeing.
And all this happens in a tiny fraction of a second… or you might say, in the blink of an eye!
Some people’s eyes have trouble focusing on objects that are very close up or very far away,
and that’s why they wear glasses or contact lenses.
These tools help do some of the focusing for their eye, enabling them to see more clearly.
You should always try to protect your eyes from damage and sunlight
by using safety goggles when necessary and sunglasses when you go out.
You only get two of them, so take care of them!