Rod+Cells+-+AS

=**Introduction:**=

You wake up in the morning still very tired, so to refresh yourself you sit up, grab the remote and turn on the TV. You watch silly cartoons, the detailed characters bang each other over the head with pots and pans, you smile. You turn up the brightness and the contrast all the way up, your eyes hurt, it is way too bright so you turn it back down until the pain is gone. Have you noticed the topic? What is it all about? it is about…(wait for it) The human eyeball! but it isn’t what is on the outside of the eye, it’s about the inside. you know that saying: “It’s on the inside that counts!”? Well it’s true! The eyeball is home to about 6 different cells and there is 49 million of them in your eye. They are there to help you see, the eyeball can’t see color, light, darkness, black, white, and gray by itself you know. Think of the eyeball itself as a factory. The pupil is the boss, the lens and the Iris are both the machines that create the base of a special tool (light and image) but the tool isn’t finished yet. Where are the workers, and what are the workers? the workers are the Rod and cone cells and they are in the way back of the factory and they have to fix and put the details on the tool to make it whole, then they do what? You will have to learn that on my page.

= Operation Activate Is a Go! = What are __rods__ and __cones__ ? they are small cells inside your eyes that help you see light, dark, and colors (learn more in chapter two). How do rods and cones activate? before the cells can begin filtering images, they need their special chemical to spark. Rod cells have a chemical called __rhodopsin__, while cones have a chemical called __color pigments.__ when light hits the rod and cone cells the chemicals tell them that it is time to work! Now this is what shocks me the most: this procedure takes about half a second! and they have to do this everytime you open your eyes, that’s like 7 million of you doing 5 pages of homework each half a second (can you imagine?)! These cells may be small but they have a big job! after the one cell is activated they have to shock another cell and 100 more and 1000 more until all are activated and ready to go, i don’t know how long this takes but i am guessing less than half a second. If you are wondering how the rods and cones can do this so quickly it is because of their many __mitochondria__. Mitochondria is like the sun to a tree, its purpose is to gather light and turn it into food and energy (and these are usually found in plant cells). So when the chemicals in the rods and cones spark from the light, the mitochondria starts up in a flash. So as long as you see light the rods and cones will never stop working until you blink or go to sleep.

= Follow the Optic Nerve Road! = However when all the cells are activated they have to do their jobs. Cones have to take what we see and grab the color out of the image then they pass it on to the rods. But unlike cones, rods have to filter black, white, light and dark. both cells have to be finished at the same time, just as you have to learn and write at the same time. But what do they do now? they have to send the images down to the brain, by following the __optic nerv__e road! if you didn't know, an optic nerve is the connection from the brain to the eyes. so the cones and rods don’t have to travel to the brain, but either way they can’t they are rooted in place and they have to keep filtering! Why do images have to be sent to the brain? Because rods and cones can only do so much, they are not smart enough to know the image itself, and the brain is your control center so it has to take the image you see back to the eyes as an entire picture. Another fact is that the eye sees things you see things upside down and as i said before both rods and cones are not smart enough to flip the images right-side up, even though they have a big __nucleus__ they are made to do their jobs specifically filtering colors, shades, light and dark.

= =

= I know where you are but Where am I? =

Where are the rods and cones? they are in the way back of your eyes right next to the optic nerve. This place is called the __Retina__, the retina has layers of different eye cells and two of those cells are the rod and cone cells. If you are confused, think of the retina as a factory and each layer of cells are the workers. There are three layers or three types of workers, the first layer of workers are the __Ganglion__ cells they grab the picture’s form and shapes and send their work to the __Bipolar__ cells, they upstream interventions from the __Photoreceptors__. The last layer of cells are the rods and cones, but you already know what they do. If you are still confused here is an image to help you understand (if you see that red amacrine cell it just links the Bipolar and the ganglion cells together, and the green horizontal cells just helps you adjust your eyes). I got most of my information from this website, so if you want to learn more check this web page out!: [|__http://health.howstuffworks.com/mental-health/human-nature/perception/eye2.htm__]

= Call an eye doctor.... = I know this is a very short chapter but this is the most important one! How to damage your cone and rod cells. You know when your parents say: “Don’t stare at the sun or you will hurt your eyes!” you think: How? Well remember when i said that rod cells help you see light and dark? well if you stare at direct light for too long then the chemicals inside the rods spark but the cones don’t because there is no color. So the chain reaction is all over the place and your rods can burn out, but if you stare at light for at least twenty minutes all your cells can burn out and thats how you can get blind. But other people can be born with a failed retina and they are born blind. So always remember don’t stare at bright light for too long, don’t shine flashlights in someones eyes, don’t get so close to the TV or computer screen unless it is dimmed, and eat a lot of carrots they help your eyesight. If you have glasses on right now have you had them on for your entire life? If you didn’t, you may have damaged your horizontal cells. My dad told me not to stare at the TV in the dark or get so close to the computer screen but i have glasses and i regret not listening to him, so just be careful and take care of your eyes! You should see this source if you want learn more about taking awesome care of your eyes, go to: [|__http://health.howstuffworks.com/mental-health/human-nature/perception/eye2.htm__]

Diagram Dance!!

Hello there we have reached the end of my boring lecture so now you get the awesome part of the article: THE DIAGRAM DANCE! I will show you eye diagrams, jokes, and a word bank just in case! If you are confused then try reading this wiki page again, if you are still confused check out the links I have put up.





=Conclusion:=

When you are done watching your cartoons you remember it's Monday! So you grab the remote and hit the red button with the on sign, you look at your clock hanging on the wall and it is 6:59 am, you need to eat breakfast! You open the curtains and let the morning sun lighten up your room, the sun makes your eyes hurt but you still look at the beautiful blue sky. I hope you learned all there is to learn about the rod and cone cells, i also know you care a lot about your eyes to have read the entire boring page! Do you see how important your eyes are? Do you see the important job of my cell? If you didn't, check out other wiki pages. Just remember: your eyes are sensitive and you should be careful and care for them. By the way if you look far away or up close at something and it’s blurry to see, tell your parents that you need glasses and don’t shy away from it! Glasses make your eyes look like they deserve to be awesome (which either way they are)! Learn more about this topic and it will change your image of the world.

Works Cited Eye Health Tips. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2015. . Parker, Steve, and David West. Brain Surgery for Beginners and Other Major Operations for Minors. Brookfield: Millbrook, 1995. Print. “Perceiving Light.” howstuffworks. Carl Bianco, 2014. Web. 18 Dec. 2014. . WebMD. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2015. . Wertenbaker, Lael Tucker. The Eye: Window to the World. Washington: U.S. News, 1981. Print.

=**1: Operation activate is a go!**= toc =**2: Follow the optic nerve road!**= =**3: I know where you are but where am I?**= =**4: Call an eye doctor....**= =**5: Diagram dance**= =**6: References**=