My eyes in the mirror—there's something there
I stopped while looking in the mirror.
I stood in front of the mirror to brush my teeth, and there was something in my eye. A tiny spot? No, a pattern? It looked like brown stripes swirling around. What is this?! What on earth is this?!
I held my breath and stared at it for a long time.
I asked Popo, and this is what she said: “That’s called the iris. You have your own unique pattern.” My own pattern? Like a fingerprint? Hehe, that’s kind of cool, isn’t it?
But then Popo told me to open the JUMP app, so I did, and... Eek! There was an eyeball floating right in the middle of my room! A real eyeball! It had this clear, jelly-like stuff inside, and you could even see the blood vessels on the outside. It was a little scary at first, but when I tapped it, the names of each part popped up.
Cornea, tap! Lens, tap! Retina, tap!
Apparently, the cornea is like a transparent window at the very front of the eye. When I swiped with my finger, the lens popped up—it looked really fascinating. A jelly lens? It kind of looked like a convex candy. Behind that was the retina, which looks like a movie theater screen; that’s where it captures light.
It took me a while to tap on all of them. I had no idea there were so many parts inside just one eye.
Popo said, “Light goes on a journey inside the eye.”
A journey? Light?
The app showed me—a beam of light actually shoots right into the cornea and bends as it passes through the lens. Just like how a straw looks bent when you put it in water! Then it goes *thud!* and hits the retina.
What?! The world is upside down!!
The trees are growing upside down. The sky is below, and the ground is above. I was totally flustered and asked, “So are we looking at things upside down right now?!” Popo laughed and explained that the brain flips it back.
The brain!
The brain quickly corrects the upside-down image that the eyes receive. Apparently, our brains are doing that every single moment. Even right now. I thought I was just looking, but my eyes and brain were working together. Hehe, there was teamwork going on inside my body.
I told Banggu, “Hey, let’s try this together!”
I turned off the lights. I looked in the mirror in the dark. After about 30 seconds, I shone my phone light on the mirror.
Eek! My pupils were huge!!
Those black circles were taking up almost half of my eyes. Banggu was right next to me and almost jumped out of his skin, going, “Whoa!”
Then, when I suddenly turned the light back on, my pupils shrunk. Whoosh. Right in front of my eyes!
Apparently, the iris works like a camera aperture to adjust the size of the pupil. It opens wide to let in more light when it’s dark, and shrinks to protect the eye when it’s bright.
My eyes were like cameras! Ugh, why did it take me this long to figure that out?
But then I thought of Puri. Puri wears glasses. I used to just wonder why, but now I think I get it.
The lens has to focus light precisely on the retina, but in some eyes, the focus lands in front of the retina, and in others, behind it. That’s why things look blurry. Apparently, eyeglass lenses correct that.
I asked Ppuri, “Can I try on your glasses?” and she lent them to me, but the world looked all wobbly, so I took them off right away.
Wearing glasses isn’t something to be ashamed of. It’s about giving your eyes the help they need, and that’s actually really smart. When I told Ppuri that, she giggled a little, looking a bit embarrassed.
Tonight, I sat next to Grandma and looked closely at her eyes.
Grandma’s irises are dark brown. They’re similar to mine, but the pattern is a little different. The stripes around her pupils looked like tree rings.
“Grandma, stay still for a moment.”
I saw my reflection in Grandma’s pupil. A very tiny version of me. Wearing a crown.
Grandma laughed and said, “What are you staring at, you little rascal?” When she laughed, wrinkles formed around her eyes and her pupils shrank slightly. Maybe it was because she was smiling so brightly.
Were eyes really this amazing? They were like a mirror reflecting Grandma, or a movie theater where light travels.
The best part of today was that the me reflected in Grandma’s eyes was smiling.
Want to dive right into my eyes?
WAGZAK JUMP — Jump into the World
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Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What is the minimum age for WAGZAK JUMP?
It is designed for children ages 4–12 (primarily elementary school students). The eye exercises are at the 5th–6th grade level.
Q. Can my child perform the pupil experiment on their own?
It’s a safe experiment that only requires a mirror and a light source. Wait 30 seconds in a dark room, then look in the mirror to observe changes in your pupils. However, please do not shine a flashlight or phone flash directly into your eyes; instead, observe the reflection in the mirror.
Q. What languages are supported?
We support 30 languages, including Korean. You can switch the same lesson to a different language.
I’ll be back soon with another fun lesson. Best regards, Didi.