Question Sheet: Hear, Hear

By Science News Explores

SCIENCE

Before reading:

  1. How do people lose their hearing?

  2. Describe how loud music affects you.

During reading:

  1. Why should young people care more about their hearing?

  2. What is the MEEI? What do people who work there do? See www.meei.harvard.edu/(Harvard University).

  3. What is the cochlea?

  4. How does sound move through the ear?

  5. Why is loss of hair cells a big deal?

  6. Why did researchers use the MTV Web site to learn what young people think

    about hearing loss?

  7. How can you prevent damage to your hearing?

After reading:

  1. What are the most common loud noises in your life? Do they affect your

    hearing?

  2. Why do you think that many young people don’t take hearing loss seriously?

  3. Besides using the MTV Web site, what’s another way in which researchers

    could reach a lot of young people?

  4. Is vision loss as big a problem as hearing loss for kids? Why or why not?

  5. Do you think that people answer surveys honestly? Are surveys a good way of studying people? Why or why not?

SOCIAL STUDIES

Who was Alexander Graham Bell? When did he live? For what invention is he most famous? Why was Bell interested in hearing? See www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/bell_alexander.shtml (BBC).

LANGUAGE ARTS

  1. Design an ad campaign to get people to wear earplugs at rock concerts.

  2. You are asked to explain how the ear works to someone who is several years

    younger than you are. Write out what you would say and show what sorts of

    illustrations you would use. See www.entnet.org/healthinfo/ears/ear.cfm (AAO-HNS) or kidshealth.org/kid/body/ear_noSW.html (KidsHealth for Kids).

MATHEMATICS

The scale for measuring the loudness or intensity of sound is known as the decibel scale. It starts at 0 decibels (or 0 dB), which represents the threshold of hearing. Rustling leaves have a sound intensity of 10 dB; a whisper is roughly 20 dB. An increase in the decibel scale of 10 represents an increase in intensity by a factor of 10. Thus, going from, say, 50 dB to 60 dB means that the sound is 10 times more intense. A typical vacuum cleaner has a loudness of 80 dB. A Walkman at full volume has a loudness of 100 dB. How much more intense is the Walkman than the vacuum cleaner? A noise of 160 dB could break your eardrum. How many times more intense is this sound level than that of a vacuum cleaner? See www.glenbrook.k12.il.us/gbssci/phys/Class/sound/u11l2b.html (Tom Henderson, Glenbrook South High School).