Questions About Hearing

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

Subject Area

Science

Grade(s)

4

Overview

In this lesson, students watch a video that explains how certain animals rely on their sense of hearing for survival. The video also explains how sounds are produced and how sound waves travel. Then students watch a video that illustrates how scientific inquiry was used to explore the mysterious hearing loss that plagues an Inuit Eskimo population. Finally, students discuss the structure and function of the human ear.

Students use scientific inquiry to understand how sound is generated, how animals hear, and the role hearing plays in survival.

Science (2015) Grade(s): 4

SC15.4.11

Investigate different ways animals receive information through the senses, process that information, and respond to it in different ways (e.g., skunks lifting tails and spraying an odor when threatened, dogs moving ears when reacting to sound, snakes coiling or striking when sensing vibrations).

UP:SC15.4.11

Vocabulary

  • investigate
  • evidence
  • transmit
  • perception
  • receptors
  • senses
  • sensory information
  • process
  • memories

Knowledge

Students know:
  • Different types of sense receptors detect specific types of information within the environment.
  • Sense receptors send information about the surroundings to the brain.
  • Information that is transmitted to the brain by sense receptors can be processed immediately as perceptions of the environment and/or stored as memories.
  • Immediate perceptions or memories processed by the brain influences an animal's actions or responses to features in the environment.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Identify different ways animals receive, process, and respond to information.
  • Identify evidence of different ways animals receive, process, and respond to information to be investigated.
  • Plan ways to Investigate different ways animals receive, process, and respond to information.
  • Collect and communicate data of different ways animals receive, process, and respond to information.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • Sensory input, the brain, and behavioral output are all parts of a system that allows animals to engage in appropriate behaviors.

Scientific and Engineering Practices

Planning and Carrying out Investigations

Crosscutting Concepts

Systems and System Models

CR Resource Type

Lesson/Unit Plan

Resource Provider

PBS

License Type

CUSTOM
ALSDE LOGO