How Moken children see underwater
Gap fill
Watch the video, complete the gaps on a piece of paper, then check your answers.
levels
reacts
brighter
automatic
adaptation
twice
suggest
adapt
enabled
Transcript
In water the world becomes blurry.
As you descend, light levels drop quickly. Your eye reacts by opening the iris, making the pupil larger and allowing more light in. The image becomes brighter, but under water a larger pupil also makes the image more blurred.
But Goon has learned how to overrule this automatic reflex with an astonishing adaptation seen clearly with the help of an infrared camera. Instead of opening his pupils, he closes them as far as they will go. This means Goon can see twice as well under water as you or I.
Recent studies suggest that any child can quickly learn this trick.
The Moken show how well the human brain can adapt the body to suit its needs. This adaptability has enabled our species to thrive on all seven of Earth’s continents.