Fun Fact 2: How do we hear? Sounds travel into our ears and hit the eardrum; the movements (called vibrations) are picked up by the cochlea and sent to the brain
Fun Fact 3: Three different parts make up the ear: the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear
Fun Fact 4: The outer ear is called the pinna or auricle; this is the part of the ear that we can see. The outer ear's job is to collect sounds and channel them through the ear canal towards the middle ear
Fun Fact 5: The ear canals are where earwax is produced. Earwax is very important as it protects the ears from dirt and infection; without earwax our hearing could suffer permanent damage
Fun Fact 6: The middle ears job is to convert sound waves, collected by the outer ears, into vibrations and deliver them to the inner ears. This is done by bouncing the sound waves over a thin, tightly stretched piece of skin called the eardrum
Fun Fact 7: The three smallest, most delicate bones in your body rest against the ear drum in the middle ears; they are called the ossicles
Fun Fact 8: The ossicles consists of three tiny bones; malleus, incus and stapes. The malleus, which means "hammer" in Latin, is attached to the eardrum. The Incus, means "anvil" in Latin, it is attached to the malleus, and the stapes, which means "stirrup" in Latin, is attached to the incus
Fun Fact 9: The eardrum vibrates with the impact of sound waves; the ossicles send the vibrations towards the inner ear
Fun Fact 10: The inner ears direct the vibrations into a small, curled tube called the cochlea. The cochlea is full of tiny hairs which convert the vibrations into nerve signals which are sent to the brain. The brain receives the nerve messages and translates them into sounds
Fun Fact 11: Why do my ears 'pop' on an aeroplane? Your eardrums are affected by the air pressure as the aeroplane moves through the atmosphere. Our Eustachian tubes are connected to our ear drums and the pressure causes our Eustachian tubes to not regulate the pressure correctly and form a pocket of air. Ear pressure can be uncomfortable and sometimes painful; sucking a sweet, chewing and yawning often helps
Fun Fact 12: Your ears help you to keep your balance! Your ears contain a liquid which help yours your brain to know if you are moving. If you spin around very fast the liquid takes a while to settle down, this is why we can sometimes feel a little dizzy
Fun Fact 13: The smallest bone in the entire human body is situated in the middle ear; the stapes bone (also known as stirrup) measures just 2.8 mm long
Fun Fact 14: Your ears are very precious and you must take care of them! Never insert anything into your ears and if the sound environment is too loud remember to protect them by wearing earplugs. If you wear headphones to listen to music, play video games or watch television, keep the volume down!
Fun Fact 15: Teenage hearing loss is on the increase! Teenager hearing problems has increased by almost 30% in recent years; this is probably due to the increase of gaming, mobile phones and computer use. Look after your ears and keep the volume down! |
