Fourth Grade
Worksheets
Caring for Your Amazing Eyes
Eye Injury Prevention Month
Reading Comprehension for July 16
Close your eyes for a moment and imagine that you cannot see. Now open them and look around you. Isn't it wonderful that you have the sense of sight? Some people are born blind; others lose this sense because of illness or injuries. In order to prevent blindness, it is important to protect your eyes. Let's look at some of the ways you can keep your eyes healthy and help prevent blindness.
Our amazing eyes have some built-in protections. The sockets they are in help to keep them from being hit. Eyebrows are there to provide a little bit of shade. Did you know eyes blink about fifteen times per minute? This means that on an average day your eyes blink over fourteen thousand times! This reflex helps to keep our eyes moist and clean by secreting tears. Also, when something approaches your eye, this reflex closes the eyelids automatically to keep the foreign object out. Eyelashes help, too. They catch smaller objects to keep them from getting into your eyes.
Built-in protections are wonderful. But, we also need to establish safe habits to protect our eyes. One of the most important ways to protect your eyes is never to look directly at the sun. The sun sends very strong light to our planet. When you look directly at the sun, the light can damage your eyes. It is a good idea to have a high-quality pair of sunglasses to cut down the glare from the sun and protect your eyes from ultraviolet (UV) rays. There are many styles of sunglasses. While it is important to like how they look, it is more important to choose a pair of sunglasses that block at least ninety-percent of UV rays. Even with sunglasses, you should never look directly at the sun.
