SECTION A

UNIT VII: SENSE ORGANS AND COORDINATION

1. Relate the structures of the mammalian eye to their functions

2. What is accommodation? Accommodation is the adjustment of the optics of the eye to keep an object
in focus on the retina as its distance from the eye varies.
4. What happens when you view near and far objects?

Object distance Ciliary Muscle Suspensory ligament Lens shape Light refracted
Far Relax tight thinner less
Near Contract/shorten slacken Bulge/rounder more
4. The
Human
Eye and
its defects

Lighting
5. Distinguish between natural and artificial lighting:
Natural light is the light we obtain from the sun while artificial light is the one that we make for ourselves
such as candles, oil lamps and electrical lamps.
6. distinguish among transparent, translucent and opaque materials:
Transparent Translucent Opaque
Allow most light to pass Allow some light to pass No light can pass through
through them through them
Eg: glass, water Eg. Butter paper, woven cotton Eg. book, rock, wood

Effects that light waves undergo.

1. refraction - Refraction is simply the bending of light when it moves from one material into another.
An incident ray is a ray of light that strikes a
surface

As the light wave goes into the block

it slows down and bends towards the
normal line, so angle A is always bigger
than angle B. As the ray comes out of the
block the light wave speeds up again
and bends away from the normal line, so angle B is always smaller than angle C.

When light enters a more optically dense medium (eg. It crosses from air into glass or air into water) it
slows down and direction bends towards normal.
Vice-versa when light enters a less optically dense medium ( eg glass to air or water into air) it speeds up
and its direction bends from the normal.

2. Dispersion
The splitting of light into its component colours is called dispersion.
Diagram of dispersion of white light by glass prism into 7 different colours.

Violet light
refracted the most
while red light slows down the least
and refracted the least.

Dispersion by water
Drops of water disperse light in the atmosphere and allow us to see the
rainbow
So why dispersion does occurs? It occurs because different colors of light travels at slightly different
speed in a transparent medium.

The structure of the Ear

The functions of the parts of the ear:
 Auditory Canal—the open passage through which sound waves travel to the middle ear.
 Eardrum—a taut, circular piece of skin that vibrates when hit by sound waves.
 Malleus (Hammer), Incus (Anvil), Stapes (Stirrup)—tiny bones that vibrate to amplify sound
waves. These are the smallest bones in the body.
 Eustachian Tube— maintain equal air pressure on both sides of the eardrum.
 Cochlea—it changes sounds into nerve messages and sends them to your brain.
 Semicircular Canals— detect movement and function as balance organs.
Auditory Nerve—bundle of nerve cells that carry signals from the sensory fibers to the brain.

THE NATURE OF SOUNDS

Amplitude is the size of the vibration, and this determines how loud the sound is. Measure in decibels
(dB).

It is also the origin of the word amplifier, a device which increases the amplitude of a waveform.

Frequency is the speed of the vibration, and this determines the pitch of the sound.

Frequency is measured as the number of wave cycles that occur in one second.  The unit of frequency
measurement is Hertz (Hz for short).
Pitch is the quality that makes it possible to judge sounds as "higher" and "lower" in the sense associated
with musical melodies.
Frequency, wavelength, cycles, period all refer to the pitch of the sound and where they sit on the
frequency spectrum.
 Short wavelength = high frequency = faster cycles = higher pitch.
 Long wavelength = low frequency = slower cycles = lower pitch.
Amplitude refers to the volume of a sound. It's not related at all to frequency. It is possible to have a loud
low frequency, or a quiet low frequency etc.

Structure and Function of Nervous System

Nervous system is divided into two parts:
1. Central Nervous System which consist of brain and spinal cord
2. Peripheral Nervous System which consist of cranial and spinal nerves
 The Brain
This is the organ inside your head that controls your body's activities and enables you to think and to feel
things

Another word for brain stem is medulla oblongata.

Two types of action controlled by the human nervous system

1. Voluntary and involuntary actions. The peripheral nerves transmit both of them.
Voluntary action: When an action is produced with the involvement of thoughts. It involves actions like
walking, eating, jumping and running. These actions are produced consciously.
Invoultary action: Actions which take place without consciousness or willingness of an individual are
called the involuntary action. Digestion, heart beating, sneezing, etc are few examples of involuntary
actions.
Reflex action - A reflex, or reflex action, is an involuntary and nearly instantaneous movement in
response to a stimulus.
 few examples of reflex action are:
 When light acts as a stimulus, the pupil of the eye changes in size.
 Sudden jerky withdrawal of hand or leg when pricked by a pin.
 Knees jerk in response to a blow or someone stamping the leg.

What happens in reflex action

THE ENDOCRINE SYSTEM