Sound Line
High noises can cause hearing damage.Copyright 2010 Ben Husmann, Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/benhusmann/5499502593/
Students learn the decibel reading of various noises and why high-level readings damage hearing. Sound types and decibel readings are written on sheets of paper and students arrange the sounds from the lowest to highest decibel levels. If available, students use a decibel meter to measure sounds.
Understanding the level of decibels is necessary for engineers to successfully design devices to fix hearing damage and make new equipment. Bioengineers have invented devices to treat deafness, including hearing aids, cochlear implants, placing tubes in the eardrum, and replacing part of the bones in the middle ear with wires. Cochlear implants are an electronic device that gives a deaf person a sense of sound by surgically implanting the devices under the skin behind the ear. The device contains a microphone, a speech processor, a transmitter and electrodes. Together, they collect and send impulses to the brain. A person with a cochlear implant cannot actually hear as a normal person does, but it allows them to have a relationship with speech and hear the environment around them. A great understanding of the ear and its physiology is necessary to design these devices.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Explain that loud sounds can damage hearing.
- Describe the amplitude of sound as measured in decibels.
- Explain how engineers design technologies to help with hearing loss or injury.