Activity 1.3.1 Good Vibrations

Introduction

Sue Smith was lucky because her bacterial meningitis infection was quickly diagnosed and treated. The antibiotics eliminated the infection and Sue was able to make a full recovery. However, the incidence of hearing loss in patients who have recovered from meningitis is very high. Sue has scheduled an appointment with an audiologist, a healthcare professional specializing in treatment of patients with hearing loss and related disorders.

In this activity, you will investigate the physics of sound as well as learn how hearing works and what can go wrong in the ear that causes different types of hearing loss. You will be assigned a patient with a specific type of hearing loss and willshow the cause of the hearing loss on a model of the ear.

Equipment

  • Computer with Internet access
  • Activity 1.3.1: Student Resource Sheet
  • Laboratory journal
  • Highlighters
  • Colored pencils
  • Markers
  • Poster board
  • Assorted colors of clay
  • Toothpicks and sticky labels for flags
  • Reference textbook (optional)

Procedure

Part I: The Physics of Sound

  1. Obtain a Student Resource Sheet from your teacher.
  2. Read throughPart I: The Physics of Sound on the Student Resource Sheet and highlight important information. Take notes in your laboratory journal.
  3. Go to the following website to access an interactive sound wave tutorial.
  • iKnowthat.com – Science Lab Sound Waves .
  1. Note how the sound created by the clap moves outward as a wave.
  2. Click on Exploring Pitch and Volume.
  3. Click on each glass and note the frequency of each sound wave on the graph.Change the amplitude of each sound wave by changing how strongly you strike the glass.
  4. Answer Conclusion questions 1and 2.

Part II: Sense of Hearing

  1. Use reference textbooks or the websites listed below to investigate the structures of the ear. Find detailed images of the outer, middle, and inner ear. Print out or sketch the structures of the ear in your laboratory journal.
  • Wisconsin Online Learning Center – Anatomy of the Ear
  • Augustana College – Virtual Tour of the Ear
  1. Create a model of the structures of the ear. You may create either a model using clay or a detailed drawing on a poster board. Use different colors for the different structures.
  2. Label each of the following structures.If you have chosen to create a clay model, build toothpick flags to label the structures.
  • Pinna
  • Auditory canal
  • Eustachian tube
  • Ossicles (malleus, incus, and stapes)
  • Tympanic membrane (eardrum)
  • Cochlea
  • Sensory hair cells
  • Cochlear nerve
  • Oval Window
  • Vestibule
  • Vestibular nerve
  1. In your laboratory journal, list the parts of the ear and write one sentence next to each which describes the function of that part.

Part III: Hearing Loss Case Studies

  1. With a partner, read your assigned patient case study, found on Part II of your Student Resource Sheet.
  2. Use reliable Internet sources to research the cause, the ear structures affected, as well as the prognosis for your assigned patient’s hearing loss. Take notes in your laboratory journal.
  3. With your partner, give a two minute presentation to the rest of the class demonstrating the cause of the hearing loss on your model of the ear.
  4. Take notes in your laboratory journal as every group presents.
  5. Go to the following website to access various sound files demonstrating different types of hearing loss. Listen to all of the audio files from the Normal Hearing file down through Tinnitus (example 2).
  • Hear-it.org – Impression of Hearing Impairment
  1. Answer the remaining Conclusion questions.

1.3.1 Good VibrationsConclusion Questions

  1. Explain how sound travels through the air.
  1. Insert a picture of a sound wave. Label both the amplitude and frequency on the picture and describe how these terms relate to how a person would hear this sound wave.
  1. Describe the pathway of sound from the time a sound is generated to the time our brain registers the sound. Make sure to include all key structures of the ear in your description.
  1. What is the difference between sensorineural hearing loss and conductive hearing loss?
  1. Why is it dangerous to listen to an MP3 player at excessively loud volumes for extensive periods of time?
  1. Explain how you would create a medical intervention to help a person dealing with severe sensorineural or conductive hearing loss.

© 2010 Project Lead The Way, Inc.

Medical InterventionsActivity 1.3.1 Good Vibrations– Page 1