Exploring the Senses
Resources
The ability to detect changes in the environment is crucial to maintaining homeostasis. The special senses we have for this are smell, taste, vision, hearing, and equilibrium. These senses allow us to interact with the world around us. The nose senses odors in the environment and the tongue senses tastes. The eyes allow us to visualize our environment and our ears to hear. Each of these special senses works in concert with the nervous system to assist the body in coping with environmental changes experienced throughout the day (Booth, Whicker, Wyman, Pugh, and Thompson, 2009).
Eye exams can help identify problems with the eye and often treatments are available. Choose one of the following eye diseases or another one that is of personal interest to you:
•Strabismus.
•Amblyopia.
•Glaucoma.
•Diabetic retinopathy.
•Cataract.
•Age-related macular degeneration.
•Myopia.
•Hyperopia.
•Presbyopia.
•Astigmatism.
After you have identified the eye disease you want to research, complete the following:
•Describe the underlying cause and symptoms.
•Identify and explain possible treatments and how eye exams, like those you did in the lab, would help an optometrist identify the condition you researched.
•State whether you think children should undergo routine eye exams. Explain why or why not.