#1726. Hearing Conservation

Science, level: Elementary
Posted Tue Apr 25 11:24:40 PDT 2000 by Sarah Marie Balough (liebe4@hotmail.com).
lesson
Indiana Universit of PA, Indiana, PA, USA
Materials Required: Overhead Projector, worksheet
Activity Time: 45 minutes
Concepts Taught: Hearing Conservation and Causes of Hearing Losses

Sample Lesson Plan

Rationale
Objectives
Lesson
Activities
Lesson
Notes
Analysis of Learner
Characteristics

Rationale
The purpose of this lesson is to educate students about hearing losses and methods of hearing conservation. The students
will learn about causes of hearing loss in children and adults, which include disease, noise pollution, and injuryt to the ear. The
students will learn about methods to conserve hearing, such as avoiding loud music and industrial settings. The students will
also learn about sounds that are potentially damaging to the ear.

Objectives
Terminal Performance Objectives
1. Following the lesson on hearing losses and hearing conservation, all of the grade four students
will be able to identify and explain three methods of hearing conservation with 100% accuracy.
2. Following the lesson on hearing losses and hearing conservation, all of the grade four students
will be able to identify three causes of hearing losses with 100% accuracy.
3. Following the lesson on hearing loss and hearing conservation, all of the grade four students will be able
to identify four sounds that are dangerous to be exposed to for an extended period of time with
75% accuracy.
Enabling Objectives
Learners will be able to:
1. List three possible methods of hearing conservation.
2. Explain why their listed conservation methods are valid.
3. List three causes of hearing losses.
4. List four sounds that can potentially damage a person's hearing.
5. Differentiate between sounds that are not potentially damaging to one's hearing and sounds that
can damage a person's hearing.

Lesson Activities
Introduction:
1. The teacher will greet the students, and inform them that they will be continuing their unit on
hearing losses and hearing conservation today in class.
2. The teacher will review with the students from the previous class period the concept of a hearing
loss, and some methods that are used to help people with hearing losses communicate (the use
of hearing aids and/or sign language).
3. The teacher will review with the students from the previous class period some different types of
hearing losses (noise induced hearing loss, hearing losses that are acquired before birth, hearing
losses that are acquired after birth).
4. The teacher will tell the students that they will be learning about hearing conservation in class
today.

Instruction:
5. The teacher will distribute a worksheet that has information that will be presented during the class, and blank
spaces for the students to fill in during the lesson.
6. The teacher will ask the students what they think some causes of hearing loss may be.
7. The teacher will expand on the response provided by the students by explaining that some
potential causes of hearing loss are disease, exposure to loud sounds, blockage to the ear, and
physical damage to the ear.
8. The teacher will explain to the students that some diseases cause damage to the mechanisms in
one's ear that allow a person to hear, such as meningitis, rubella, and a high fever.
9. The teacher will explain to the students that a car accident or very hard blow to the ear may also
cause internal damage within the ear which may, as a result, cause a person to lose one's hearing.
10. The teacher will explain that a person can get blockage to the ear canal if there is a buildup of ear
wax or physical deformity that causes the ear canal to be closed off.
11. The teacher will ask the students why they think that loud noises can damage a person's hearing.
12. The teacher will expand on the students' responses by explaining that noise induced hearing
losses are caused by too long of an exposure to loud sounds.
13. The teacher will explain that, when a person is exposed to a loud sound for too long, the tiny
hairs (cilia) in the ear that push the sound through the cochlea (inner ear) and to the brain
become paralyzed (stop working), which causes the person to not be able to hear.
14. The teacher will ask the students what they think some sounds are that may cause damage to the
ear and a hearing loss.
15. The teacher will show the students an OSHA poster that lists various sounds and their loudness.
16. The teacher will explain that the louder the sound, the more damaging that sound is to one's
hearing.
17. The teacher will ask the students to name some sounds from the poster that are especially
damaging to a persons hearing (chain saw, power tools, stereo, lawn mower, and television).
18. The teacher will ask the students how they think they can prevent themselves from getting a
hearing loss.
19. The teacher will expand on the responses provided by the students by explaining that they can
prevent themselves from getting a hearing loss by wearing earplugs when exposed to loud machinery, by
turning down the volume on the television and stereo, and by avoiding situations where there
may be very loud sounds (rock concerts).

Practice:
20. The teacher will divide the class into four groups. Each group will be given an assignment to
complete, which will include that the students: 1. Describe, in depth, one method of hearing conservation,
2. Describe, in depth, one causes of hearing loses,
3. List two noises that are dangerous to be exposed to for long
periods of time.
21. The teacher will give the groups ten minutes to gather information about the above listed topics.
22. The teacher will ask each group to briefly present the information that they collected to the class.
23. The teacher will monitor the group presentations, and offer information or corrections when necessary.

Materials/Vocabulary:
OSHA poster noise induced hearing loss
paper cilia
pencils paralyzed
fill in the blank worksheet

Evaluation:
The teacher will distribute a worksheet to each student in the class. The worksheet will ask the students to identify and
explain three methods of hearing conservation, to identify three causes of hearing losses, and to identify four sounds that are
dangerous to be exposed to for long periods of time. The teacher will tell the students that they must complete the assignment
for homework, and that they can use their class worksheets as resources. The teacher will inform the students that they must
turn their papers in the following day during class.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Teacher's notes/Resources

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