PHY 311 Problem-based Learning Experience

-- Contact Lenses --

Problem Statement

You are a professional member of an optomotrist's clinic composed of four working optomistrists and a number of technicians. You have your professional degree in optometry, and are one of the optometrists. A staff member has asked the optometrists for a 15-minute presentation to be presented to her daughter's Girl Scout troop that is working on a merit badge. Your group will need to send someone (perhaps all?) optomotriest to the troop meeting to make a presentation about contact lenses and how they work.

Several really good questions have been brought to your attention for consideration as part of the talk. They include the following:

1. If contact lenses are all convex, how can they correct near-sightedness which requires a concave lens?
2. How can contact correct for astigmatism?
3. Why don't contacts that can be used to give colored effects to the iris affect the color of sight, or do they?
4. Can contact lenses be used in place of lenses in people whose lenses have been removed due to cataracts?

Task Statement

Your task as a group will be to prepare and deliver a 15-minute presentation dealing with the working of contact lenses. You will need to attempt to answer the above questions as well as to explain briefly how contact lenses work. A single "optometrist" or several or all may be present to make the presentation.

Resources

Below you will find a number of Web site resources that you can access in you quest for answers. Be certain to use the traditional Internet search engines to find additional resources.

Bifocul