Handouts "I'm All Ears" + "Double Bass Redoubled" Questions

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Copy the following into an email to Mr. R and answer each question below it. Use complete sentences.

"I'm All Ears" Questions

  1. Name the structures and their functions in the human outer, middle, and inner ear.

  2. Describe the three main stages of hearing.

  3. Define these terms in the context of animal audio processing systems:
        a. compression
        b. rarification
        c. cycles
        d. resonance & absorption
        e. echolocation & spatial location
        f. acoustic "jamming" by moths

  4. What characteristics make the basilar membrane near the oval window resonate at a specific frequency range? What characteristics make the basilar membrane near the inside of the cochlea resonate at a specific frequency range? Humans are particularly sensitive to certain ranges of frequencies. Speculate on what things in our environment may have exerted selective pressures to shape these sensitivities?

"Double Bass Redoubled" Questions

  1. What are ultrasounds and infrasounds? What natural sources of them exist in our world? What animals use them to communicate?

  2. Why do longer wavelength sounds travel further? Be specific.

  3. How are signal processors being used to verify the Comprehensive Test Ban treaty?

  4. How can infrasound travel around the world? Describe 2 such scenarios.