HELP

1Look at this picture of the human ear.

aPhillip labelled the parts but he got them wrong. Here are Phillip’s labels.

Write the list again, putting the labels with the correct letters.

bWrite a list of each of the parts above. Next to each one, write down what it does when you are hearing a sound.

cCopy and complete the sentences below:

iIt is important that small mammals can hear well because

.

iiAs mammals get older their hearing gets .

CORE

2Pablo is a dolphin trainer in a theme park. He uses a high-pitched whistle to tell his dolphins what to do. This is better for the audience watching the dolphin shows than a normal whistle.

aWhy is the high-pitched whistle better for the audience?

bExplain why the high-pitched whistle is fine for the dolphins.

cUsing ideas about vibrations, explain what a dolphin’s eardrum can do better than a human eardrum.

dBats have eardrums that can do the same thing. Explain why bats need excellent hearing?

© Harcourt Education Ltd 2004 Catalyst 2

This worksheet may have been altered from the original on the CD-ROM.

3Draw a flow diagram to explain the order in which things happen when we hear something. Start with a firework as it explodes.

EXTENSION

4Read the information below, which is taken from a health information booklet for teenagers.

One result of these surveys is that some doctors are campaigning for a reduction in the maximum sound levels allowed at discos, concerts and nightclubs.

aHow would the movement of your eardrum be different in a disco where the music was at a reasonable loudness, compared with one where you were standing next to a very loud speaker?

bHow would the loudness of the music be linked to the movement of the small bones inside your ear?

cWhy might the people described suffer from the following, after visiting a club:

isharp pain inside the ear

iitemporary deafness for several hours?

diSuggest why our ability to hear decreases naturally as we get older.

iiWhy would visiting loud discos make it more likely that we would lose our hearing at an earlier age?

eSuggest a job where hearing could be damaged if precautions are not taken.

© Harcourt Education Ltd 2004 Catalyst 2

This worksheet may have been altered from the original on the CD-ROM.