Eye Color & Sight

Problem: Does eye color affect someone's sight? Light and Dark?

By Corlen Vallese

Hypothesis: For my hypothesis, I think that there will be a big difference in which most humans will be able to see better in the light because that’s what conditions they have to see in all day. Secondly, I predict that blue eyes will see better in the light and dark.

Abstract: Have you ever wondered if the color of your eyes affects your sight? This year for my science fair project, I chose to investigate if the color of someone’s eye affects his or her sight. Green, blue, and brown were the different colors of eyes that I had to test. My hypothesis was that blue eyes would see the best in both light and dark environments. I chose this project I was always curious if the color of your eye affected how well you can see.

In order to start the testing, I had to prepare prior. I printed out an eye chart, got a measuring tape and flashlight along with pencil and paper to collect my data. Before testing everyone,

I had to find the perfect room with no windows. Eventually, I taped the eye chart to the wall then measured with the measuring tape 7’4’’ away from the eye chart. That was the spot where the participants sat down on a stool and tested from. In both the light and dark, I made the participants read as far as they can go on the eye chart from the top. After the participant was finished, I marked recorded their scores on paper and made them sign the permission form for my project.

After testing 30 participants, I had to find 2 different averages for each eye color. One average for in a light environment, and one for a dark environment. When all of the averaging was done, the statistics were clear. Out of 11 lines of the eye chart, brown eyes averaged a 10/11, blue eyes averaged a 9/11, and green eyes averaged a 8/11 in the light. In the dark although, blue eyes averaged a 8/11, and both green and brown eyes averaged a 7/11. Overall, blue eyes averaged the highest in the dark, and brown eyes averaged the highest in the light.

My hypothesis was proven incorrect because I predicted that blue eyes would see the best in both light and dark, but that was not the absolute correct outcome. Blue eyes did see the best in the dark, but brown eyes saw the light. My project was successful because there was a clear outcome for both light and dark environments. Same age group, distance from eye chart, and types of flashlights were all variable that I kept in mind during testing everyone. I could have improved my experiment by gathering more participants which could have gotten me more accurate results. I love this project, and I believe that it was a complete success with two clear answers.

Procedure:

• 1. Gather 30 people of different eye color (10 brown, 10 blue, and 10 green).

  2. Test 30 people and see how far they get on the eye chart (each person in light and dark with same distance from eye chart).

  3. Gather results into a graph and interpret the data.

  4. Record number of full, correct lines completed on eye chart

1. Repeat test for everyone

Conclusion: My data and statistics proved that my hypothesis was incorrect. In the light, brown eyes averaged a 92% which was the highest in the light. Blue eyes averaged a 82%, and green eyes averaged a 72% which was the lowest. Meanwhile,

in the dark, blue eyes averaged 72% which was the highest! Brown and green eyes both scored a 64% which was the lowest. It’s amazing to see that the eye color someone has actually has a large affect on seeing! These results can be improved by gathering 10 more people for each eye color for more accurate results.