Worksheet: Light and colour
Name:
1. Which animal sees this?
Each picture shows the same red tulips through one animal's eyes. Write the animal under each picture: Dog, Western honey bee, Peacock mantis shrimp.
2. Circle the difference
Left: the tulips as you see them. Right: as the dog sees them. Circle three things that changed.
3. Talk and write
If a dog cannot tell red from green, how might it find a red ball on green grass?
Answer key (for the teacher)
1. Picture A: Peacock mantis shrimp; Picture B: Dog; Picture C: Western honey bee.
2. Any three changes the pupils can point to on the two pictures.
3. Good answers use a clue other than colour: how bright the ball is, its shape, its movement or its smell.
Facts to share
Each fact comes from published measurements in our catalogue; the id names the values it uses.
- A dog sees with 2 colour types; you have 3. (Dog; fact canis-familiaris.col.count; values Canis familiaris#colour.n, Homo sapiens#colour.n)
- A sign you can read from 10 m, a dog has to get to about 1.3 m to see as clearly. (Dog; fact canis-familiaris.acu.sign; values Canis familiaris#acuity.cpd, Homo sapiens#acuity.cpd)
- Fast things look about 1.3 times slower to a dog. (Dog; fact canis-familiaris.cff.slow; values Canis familiaris#temporal.cff, Homo sapiens#temporal.cff)
- The western honey bee has 3 colour types like you, but one of them sees ultraviolet. (Western honey bee; fact apis-mellifera.col.uv3; values Apis mellifera#colour.n, Apis mellifera#colour.uv, Homo sapiens#colour.n)
- A sign you can read from 10 m, a western honey bee has to get to about 3.9 cm to see as clearly. (Western honey bee; fact apis-mellifera.acu.sign; values Apis mellifera#acuity.cpd, Homo sapiens#acuity.cpd)
- Fast things look about 3.7 times slower to a western honey bee. (Western honey bee; fact apis-mellifera.cff.slow; values Apis mellifera#temporal.cff, Homo sapiens#temporal.cff)
- A peacock mantis shrimp sees with 10 colour types; you have 3. (Peacock mantis shrimp; fact odontodactylus-scyllarus.col.count; values Odontodactylus scyllarus#colour.n, Homo sapiens#colour.n)
- A sign you can read from 10 m, a peacock mantis shrimp has to get to about 17 cm to see as clearly. (Peacock mantis shrimp; fact odontodactylus-scyllarus.acu.sign; values Odontodactylus scyllarus#acuity.cpd, Homo sapiens#acuity.cpd)
A simulation built from published eye measurements, not what the animal experiences. seelikeanimals.com/classroom/lessons/light-and-colour/