Download Hearing Webquest

Name _______________________________________ iPod Safety
1. How many minutes a day is it safe to listen to you iPod at 80% volume? _________________
2. The article stated that teens tended to play music louder than adults and are often unaware of how loud they are
playing it. Why do you think teens don’t realize how loud their iPod’s are?
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3. How long could you listen to an iPod safely daily at 70% volume? ________________
4. How many dB (decibels) could you possibly crank into your ear at the highest level? __________
5. What percentage of users keep their device at maximum volume? __________________
6. How many million Americans have hearing loss? _______________
7. Please tell me what kind of sound you would hear at the following decibels.
60 dB
85 dB
100 dB
8. What would you do if you were somewhere where the sound was hurting your ears?
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iPod Safety: Preventing Hearing Loss in Teens
http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1881130,00.html
If you're one of the 173 million iPod users out there, you're probably reading this with your earbuds in.
Take them out. Even if only for a few minutes while you read this article.
Trust us, your hearing will thank you for it. While many music lovers are aware that listening to iPods and MP3 players at
high volumes can lead to hearing loss, not many of them — especially not teens — do anything about it. In fact, when
teens are pressured by friends or family to turn down the volume on their iPods, they do exactly what you'd expect them to
do: they turn the volume up instead. Even teens who express concern about the risk of hearing loss listen to music at
potentially dangerous levels — higher on average than kids who say they're not worried about deafness. (See the top 10
iPhone applications.)
Go figure. But that's what researchers at Colorado University and Children's Hospital in Boston found in a small study of
30 young iPod users. Led by Cory Portnuff, an audiologist at Colorado who began studying iPod-related hearing loss in
2006, the study found that teens not only tend to play music louder than adults, but they are often unaware of how loud
they're playing it. "I honestly don't believe that most people understand they are putting themselves at risk, or at what level
of risk," says Portnuff. (See pictures of a diverse group of American teens.)
Portnuff has documented that listening to earbuds, or in-ear headphones, for 90 minutes a day at 80% volume is probably
safe for long-term hearing — a useful cutoff point to keep in mind. (But softer is better: you can safely tune in at 70%
volume for about 4½ hours a day.) The risk of permanent hearing loss, Portnuff says, can increase with just five minutes
of exposure a day to music at full volume. Over time, the noise can damage the delicate hair cells in the inner ear that
transform sound waves to the electrical signals that the brain understands as sound.
So why would anyone ever listen to an iPod at maximum volume? Again, it's a simple misunderstanding of risk. Portnuff
speculates that teens who say they worry about hearing loss but still listen to their iPods at high volumes probably assume
that the manufacturer's maximum default setting is safe, or that turning the volume down to anything but full-blast is
harmless. (Read "The Year in Medicine 2008: From A to Z.")
Add to these misconceptions the fact that people are listening to music for longer periods of time — today's long-lasting
batteries can crank out music for 15 hours or more — and it's no wonder that the risk of hearing loss is increasing. But
perhaps so is the concern. In 2006 a Louisiana man filed suit against Apple, claiming that iPods are "not sufficiently
adorned with adequate warnings regarding the likelihood of hearing loss." Soon after, health authorities in France
demanded increased safety measures. So the company, based in Cupertino, Calif., revised its software to set the maximum
volume at 100 dB (the equivalent of standing next to a pneumatic drill) for devices sold in Europe. Portnuff says certain
devices sold in the U.S. can reach beyond 100 dB, however; some have recorded levels as high as 115 dB, similiar to a
chainsaw or rock concert.
Portnuff acknowledges that most iPod and MP3 users don't keep their devices at maximum volume — only about 7% to
24% listen at risky levels. But because most of us can, and are, spending more time listening to music through
headphones, there is a real risk of hearing loss for anyone who plugs in. "It's a matter of how high you listen and for how
long," he says. Listen for too high and too long, and you may have to replace those headphones with hearing aids in the
not-too-distant future.
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Avoid hearing loss: Check the decibels before
entering a room
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/11/avoid-hearing-loss-check-decibels-before-entering-room/
An estimated 26 million Americans between the ages of 20 and 69 have some form of hearing loss due to
exposure to loud noise at work or at play. That’s partly because our suburban and urban lifestyle has gotten
louder, due to things like city traffic, a screeching subway, a football game, a loud bar or restaurant, or leaf
blowers in the suburbs.
Research has also shown that listening to music through earphones increases the risk of hearing loss. Aside
from damaging hearing, loud noises are also associated with stress and symptoms of stress like hypertension
and cardiovascular disease.
As the noise level has increased, we’ve grown accustomed to the higher decibels, so it’s become difficult to
know what is normal and what is too loud.
According to the National Institutes of Health, long or repeated exposure to sounds at or above 85 decibels can
cause hearing loss. The louder the sound, the shorter the time period before noise-induced hearing loss can
occur. Regular exposure to more than one minute of 110 decibels or more risks permanent hearing loss. Less
than 75 decibels is generally considered safe.
Now to put that into perspective: Normal conversation is approximately 60 decibels, heavy city traffic can reach
85 decibels, stadium noise can roar to 120 decibels, a rock concert or symphony orchestra can reach 110
decibels, a snowmobile generates 100 decibels, and a movie hovers at 85 – but can have 100 decibel peaks.
A good way of gauging high decibels is if you have to raise your voice to be heard by someone sitting or
standing nearby; this is not uncommon in noisy restaurants, bars or at a concert. If the noise hurts your ears, it’s
also a sign that it’s too loud.
To get a more accurate reading on sound, you can download an app that can quickly measure decibels. “If you
think something’s loud, you can pick up the phone and see just how loud it is,” said Dr. Annette Hurley,
associate professor of communications disorders at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center.
Walk into a restaurant, quickly test the decibels, and go somewhere else if it registers above 75. If you feel like
being an advocate for all patrons, you can bring it to the attention of the restaurant owner, who may be able to
lower the decibels simply by turning down the background music. If you’re going to a concert or other noisy
venue, take earplugs to dampen the sound.
It’s also a good idea to set maximum decibels on your personal listening device. If you’re trying to hear your
music in a place that’s already noisy, it’s easy to inadvertently turn up the volume to damaging levels. Make
sure it’s set below 85 decibels, recommended Dr. Hurley.
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Computer Lab Assignment Name ________________________________________
First go to the orchestra website and click on GENERAL MUSIC HEARING WEBQUEST.
It’s true, you only have two ears! You can’t grow anymore, and if you damage your hearing, you may never be able to
hear certain sounds again. During this webquest, we are going to learn a little more about how the ear works, what it
is like to live with hearing loss, and how to avoid hearing loss.
Click on Website 1 to answer these questions:
1. The _____________ and the ___________ work together.
2. Most of the ear is hidden inside the _______________.
3. The ear is divided into three parts the _________ ear, the ___________ ear and the ___________ ear.
4. The _________ is the part of the ear on the outside that collects the soundwaves.
5. The ______ ___________ is a long tube that connects the outer ear to the inner ear.
6. A thin membrane at the end of the ear canal is called the _______ _____________.
7. In the middle ear, three tiny bones connected to the ear drum are called the _______________, ________________
and ________________.
8. The cochlea looks like a ________________. It is connected to the auditory _____________.
9. The auditory nerve sends signals that we have heard to our ___________________.
Click on Video 1 for another view of the ear:
10. _____________ __________ cause the ear drums to vibrate.
Now go to Website 2 and Click on What’s that Sound
According to the foundation, permanent hearing loss happens when the hair _______ inside the inner ear are
damaged by loud noises. This can make the sound seem ____________.
What is tinnitus? ___________________________________________________________________________
Once you have played the hearing loss game, click on “Next Activity” at the top of the page.
How do we hear?
Sound ________ travel into the ear canal until they reach the __________. The eardrum passes the vibrations
through the middle ear bones or __________ into the inner ear. The inner ear is shaped like a snail and is also
called the cochlea. Inside the cochlea, there are thousands of tiny ______ cells. Hair cells change the vibrations
into electrical signals that are sent to the brain through the hearing nerve. The brain tells you that you are
hearing a sound and what that sound is.
Draw a picture of damaged and undamaged hair cells in the space below:
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Click Next Activity, “How Loud is Too Loud”
If sound reaches _______ decibels or higher, it can cause permanent damage. The amount of ________ you listen is also
important.
Please complete the “How Loud is Too Loud” game by clicking start.
Were you surprised by any of the answers on the game? If so, which ones?
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After you have completed the game, click next activity.
Sound starts as a _______________. Something has to ________ for sound to exist.
List one example of sound _____________________________________________.
Click next and answer the questions based on the “How do We Measure Sound Waves?” page.
1. T / F
Sound waves are a form of energy.
2. T / F
I can listen to 85 dB volume for 8 hours safetly.
3. T / F
I can listen to 120 dB music all day and will not suffer hearing loss.
Go back to the orchestra website and Watch Video 2 and Video 3
Based on video 3, what are some warning signs for hearing loss? Write at least two warning signs.
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Go to Website 3 and Watch the video on the page.
Go to Website 4 and answer the following questions:
What is audiology?
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Tell me about salary opportunities for audiologists. How much money do they make?
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What other professionals do audiologists work with?
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If you have more time, click the link on the bottom of the page:

Careers in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology: Reward Yourself (videos)
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