Pomona High School Pomona, California Summer 2003 Research Host: Dr. Steven J. Wickler California Polytechnic University Lesson # 13-163 -
Appropriate citation: Patel, Sonal (APS Archive of Teaching Resources Item #7307. [Online]. Bethesda, MD: American Physiological Society, 2004. http://www.apsarchive.org/resource.cfm?submissionid=7307 Editor s notes: Website URLs listed in this resource were current as of publication, but may now be obsolete. If you know of a replacement URL, please suggest it in the resource s Comments section. Safety Concern: Teacher should provide proper supervision when students are carrying out procedures. Safety precautions are well noted in the activity but should be made clear to the students prior to experimental design portion of the activity. Disclaimer: This activity was created by the author and reviewed by the American Physiological Society. Any interpretations, statements, or conclusions in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of either the American Physiological Society or the funding agencies supporting the professional development program in which the author participated. Frontiers in Physiology www.frontiersinphys.org The American Physiological Society Permission is granted for workshop/classroom use with appropriate citation
Teacher Section This activity is designed to have students develop knowledge about the ear and its functions as related to equilibrium and hearing. Students will be able to: Design an experiment exploring the relationship between sound and balance. Present their finding using a PowerPoint presentation, poster, or overhead projector. Use the Internet to learn about the impact of high decibel sounds on balance and hearing. Explain the basic anatomy of the ear (both external and internal). Describe the two major functions of the ear (hearing and equilibrium). This activity is primarily designed for high school biology students but can be easily modified for use by upper level junior high school students. Grades 9-12 Science as Inquiry: Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry Understandings about scientific inquiry Life Science: The cell Matter, energy, and organization in living systems Science in Personal and Social Perspectives: Personal and community health Environmental quality Natural and human-induced hazards History and Nature of Science: Nature of scientific knowledge The introduction (case study) and treasure hunt take about a day and a half of class time. The second half of day two can be devoted to coming up with the experimental design. Day three is dedicated to performing the actual experiment and if the PowerPoint has been assigned as homework, then the presentations will take up days four and five. Basically, this turns out to be a five day lesson if all activities go as planned. Students should have some experience with constructing a data table and using the inquiry based method as this is an open inquiry activity. - 164
Teacher Section Virtually all students are inclined towards using a Walkman in class. Students can design their own experiments. Experiments can be designed to use a multitude of students strengths (visual, kinesthetic, auditory, etc.). The lesson explores a topic in which all students have a direct link (balance and hearing). Encourage students who have a physical disability (hearing disorder) to participate. They would make an excellent comparison against those who have normal hearing. This could lead to numerous discussions about adaptation and living with hearing loss. If a student has a physical disability (one which prevents them from actually being mobile, i.e., a student with a wheelchair) there are still experimental procedures which can allow them to participate in the activity. For instance, they may be able to test how precise a direction change is with and without having music being played in one ear. The major issue here is that students should be told to keep volume levels low when using portable sound equipment. Experimental procedures should not have any loud noises directed toward the ear at any time. Another point is that many students will develop procedures that involve walking with their eyes closed. Be sure to inform these students (and students around them) of the types of experiments going on in the class. Remind students to use extreme caution when walking around in the classroom because of the furniture and students surrounding them. As a matter of fact, if you are able to conduct this experiment outside of the classroom (perhaps the gymnasium to allow for more open space), students will have a greater range to conduct their experiment under supervised conditions. Please review all procedures before allowing students to conduct experiments. Overhead projector Transparencies Post-It Posters MS PowerPoint Internet access Web Site Info Search worksheets Walkman radios/portable CD players and spare batteries Tape Measures Tuning forks Other items that students may use to conduct their experiments (teacher discretion) - 165
Teacher Section 1. How does your procedure minimize experimental error? 2. What are some possible reasons people cannot hear? 3. Does being hearing impaired mean that you cannot balance as well as those with normal hearing? 4. How does loud noise cause hearing loss? 5. Does your data support (not support) your hypothesis? Explain. 6. Why can head trauma cause hearing loss when the ear has not been damaged? Before starting this lab, it would be a good idea to check whether or not Internet access has been interrupted. To speed load times, pre-load the web pages that students will use during the activity onto your computers. You may want to mention a day or two before that students will be using portable music players in class. If this is against school policy, you may want to clear this with your principal. It might be a good idea to have a couple of old CD / cassette players and batteries on hand. As an Engage activity, have your students try the tree yoga pose (http://www.santosha.com/asanas/vriksha.html). After this (or as an alternative activity), have students read the following article (http://www.sinuscarecenter.com/dizzyaao.html). It is advisable to use just the first page of the article as it gives a great introduction to balance related disorders that students are familiar with. However, if you have an advanced class that can get through the article quickly, you may want to have the students read the entire piece. A short discussion about the article before the KWL would in order. Keep in mind that these activities are just to pique the curiosity of your students so emphasize the fact that it is okay not to be perfect. Before beginning the lab portion of this activity, perform a KWL with your students about balance and hearing. Have students write their responses individually and then write their collective responses on the board, overhead, poster, etc. The goal is to have students ask questions about functions of the ear. - 166
Teacher Section - After the KWL, students perform an Internet search using the two Web Site Info Search worksheets. The first worksheet covers the effects of loud sounds on hearing and balance. The next worksheet goes over how we locate where a sound is coming from. This provides a reasonable background on the dangers of loud sounds, which should stem the tide of unacceptable experimental proposals. - Working in pairs, have students design an experiment to test the effects of sound on balance. The KWL should provide inspiration for those students who struggle with creating their own experiment. Group procedures must include a problem, hypothesis, materials/methods, and a data table. Approve procedures before students begin experimenting. The optimal situation would be to have all students in one large place (gymnasium) to perform their experiments. This way, students do not trample over one another and the furniture, and the instructor can observe all students clearly. - - For those new to inquiry based methods or to offer starting points for students who are struggling with the idea of creating an experiment, you can offer all or part of the following (acceptable) student developed problems. Problem: Determine whether music played in one ear makes a difference when walking in a straight line for 25 feet. Problem: Is it harder to balance on one foot with or without music playing in both (or one) ear(s)? - There are some instances in which it may be dangerous to accommodate certain procedures that students come up with. These instances include activities which risk the loss of hearing. For instance, unacceptable activities might include the following: Problem: Walk on a four feet high fence with and without music playing to find out whether music playing in one ear will cause you to fall. Problem: Turn on the music high and close your eyes and walk in a line to see how straight you walk every time. - After reaching a conclusion, students should develop a presentation discussing their experiment and findings using a PowerPoint presentation, transparency, or poster. Note: As groups present their procedures and findings, have them explain why they took certain steps in their procedures. Highlight those that attempt to rule out experimental errors and increase repeatability. Discuss why this is important in any experiment. - 167
Teacher Section Students can be assessed using the following methods: 1) Observation during development of procedure, experimentation, and Internet search. 2) Accuracy of information presented during poster session (would include checking for proper explanation of procedure, conclusion, etc.) 3) Participation in KWL activity. 4) Develop a pamphlet describing the effects of high decibel sound exposure on balance and hearing. Career Exploration: Students can research a career in audiology or one of numerous diseases which cause hearing loss (Menieres Disease, vertigo, motion sickness, and even dizziness). Doctors, nurses, speech therapists, individuals who suffer from hearing loss (or inner ear conditions) and researchers could be contacted and interviewed. Additionally, any of these individuals could be contacted to be a guest speaker. A Brain Map of Auditory Space (http://www.hhmi.org/senses/c210.html) American Academy of Audiology: Consumer Guides Sound Location (http://www.audiology.org/consumer/guides/aural.php) Dizziness and Motion Sickness (http://www.sinuscarecenter.com/dizzyaao.html) Losing your ears to music (http://homepages.kdsi.net/~sherman/hearingloss.htm) Nervous System Layer (http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/body/ factfiles/hearing/hearing.shtml) NIDCD Health Information: SWAT z new? - A fly that s better at locating sounds than humans (http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/education/news/swatz.asp) Reference - Loud Music and Fish (http://www.notcatfish.com/reference/music.htm) Researchers explain how we detect the location of sound (http://www.news.wisc.edu/view.html?get=8138) This one goes to eleven (http://www.nature.com/nsu/000113/000113-2.html) Vriksha-asana The Tree Posture [Yoga Postures Step-by-Step] (http://www.santosha.com/asanas/vriksha.html - 168
2003 Frontiers in Physiology Program - 169 - Name: What I Know about balance and hearing What I Want to know about balance and hearing Period: What I Learned about balance and hearing Student Section
Student Section Sound and Balance Experimental Design Worksheet (Adapted from Those Beads activity developed by Marsha Lakes Matyas, The American Physiological Society, 1999) Group Names Period Date Our research interest: We hypothesize that: Materials: Experimental method: - 170
Student Section Data table: Summary of results (translate what your data table says into words): - 171
Student Section Conclusion (remember to give reasons for whether your hypothesis is supported or not): Improvements / revisions to experimental procedure: Further experimentation ideas / questions: - 172
Student Section This web info search will help you find information about sound, hearing and balance. You will be looking at pre-selected web sites to answer questions. Review each site for information and consider who wrote the site, what their purpose is in writing it, and how credible (accurate) you think the information is. 1. How does loud music affect hearing and balance? Site 1: http://homepages.kdsi.net/~sherman/ hearingloss.htm Site 2: http://www.vestibular.org/prevent.html Who created this web site? Why did they create it? (check all that apply) To provide factual information To influence the reader s opinion To sell a product or service To provide factual information To influence the reader s opinion To sell a product or service How credible (accurate) do you think the info is? Very accurate Somewhat accurate Not very accurate Very accurate Somewhat accurate Not very accurate What did you learn? - 173
Student Section 2. How do we know where a sound is coming from? Site 1: http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/ body//hearing/hearing.shtml Site 2: http://www.news.wisc.edu/ view.html?get=8138 Who created this web site? Why did they create it? (check all that apply) To provide factual information To influence the reader s opinion To sell a product or service To provide factual information To influence the reader s opinion To sell a product or service How credible (accurate) do you think the info is? Very accurate Somewhat accurate Not very accurate Very accurate Somewhat accurate Not very accurate What did you learn? - 174