Hearing Facts for Kids

A Diagram of the Human Ear
  • Sense Name: Hearing
  • Sense System: Auditory system
  • Sense Purpose: Turn vibrations into sounds
  • Sense Organs: Ears and Brain
  • Sense Components: Outer Ear, Middle Ear and Inner Ear
  • Field of Study: Auditory science (hearing science)

28 Hearing Facts for Kids

  1. Hearing is one of the five basic senses that humans have.
  2. Hearing is also known as auditory perception.
  3. Humans can hear sounds using their auditory system.
  4. The human auditory system consists of the outer ear, middle ear and inner ear.
  5. The outer ear is the visible part on both sides of your head, it focuses sound waves towards the middle ear.
  6. The middle ear transmits sound vibrations to the inner ear.
  7. The inner ear communicates these vibrations via the auditory nerve to the cochlear nucleus in the brainstem.
  8. Humans can hear frequencies between 20 and 20,000 Hz (Hertz).
  9. Humans are most sensitive to frequencies between 2,000 and 5,000 Hz (Hertz).
  10. Sounds at or above 85 dB (decibels) can damage the hearing ability of a human.
  11. A hearing test is used to grade and diagnose hearing loss in humans.
  12. A human is diagnosed with hearing loss when they have a partial to a complete inability to hear.
  13. A human’s hearing loss is graded using one of seven degrees.
  14. The seven degrees of hearing loss are normal, slight, mild, moderate, moderately severe, severe and profound.
  15. A human is considered to have normal hearing loss can’t hear sounds less than -10 and 15 dB HL.
  16. A human is considered to have slight hearing loss can’t hear sounds less than 16 and 25 dB HL.
  17. A human is considered to have mild hearing loss can’t hear sounds less than 26 and 40 dB HL.
  18. A human is considered to have moderate hearing loss can’t hear sounds less than 41 and 55 dB HL.
  19. A human is considered to have moderately severe hearing loss can’t hear less than 56 and 70 dB HL.
  20. A human is considered to have severe hearing loss can’t hear sounds less than 71 and 90 dB HL.
  21. A human is considered to have profound hearing loss can’t hear sounds greater less than 91+ dB HL.
  22. A human can use a small electronic device known as a hearing aid to improve their hearing ability.
  23. If someone can’t hear at all they’ll use a language known as sign language.
  24. Sign language uses hand signs and motions to communicate.
  25. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 466 million people worldwide have disabling hearing loss.
  26. Out of all the living organisms on our planet, it’s estimated that moths have the best hearing.
  27. The study of ears, nose and throat is called Otolaryngology.
  28. A doctor who practices Otolaryngology is called an Otolaryngologists.

Additional Resources on the Sense of Hearing

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