High School  ·  Science

Model Eye

A telescopic 3D model of the human eye, built in a weekend — still used as a classroom teaching aid.

Year 2017
Role Designer & Builder
Build time 1 weekend
Model human eye

A grade 10 science build with one requirement: display the major components of the human eye. I went 3D to show the parts clearly, and made it telescopic so the important internal features could be pulled apart and seen — built entirely from scrap wood, PVC pipe, and plastic bowls and dishes.

Cut, glued, and painted scrap wood for the base, with a 1.25″ hole for a 1.25″ PVC tube. The back half of the eye is a plastic bowl bored for the tube. The iris and pupil were painted onto a small plate assembly glued to a 0.75″ PVC pipe. The lens is two plastic dishes glued together, drilled for dowels and a 1″ center pipe.

Nesting the 0.75″, 1″, and 1.25″ assemblies inside one another created the full telescopic model that extends to reveal each internal feature.

Outside front half
Outside of the front half
Inside front half
Inside — lens and iris assembly
Model extended
Fully extended telescopic model

Not a technical project, but a showcase of creativity and resourcefulness — my grade 10 teacher kept it and still uses it as a classroom teaching aid.