Biology: Communication Option Workshop Worksheets
Welcome to the Communication Workshop at the Museum of Human Disease.
In this workshop you will be working in groups around twelve different stations
that have been set up within the Museum. At each station you will be
completing an activity to do with sight, sound or speech as well as the nerves
and the brain and their role in communication.
Important things to remember:
 You will have TEN minutes at each station, please listen carefully to
instructions and move to the next station as quickly as possible.
 For the courtesy of the group following you, we ask that you return all
items, activities and information to the way that you found it when
arriving at the station.
 Make sure you read all instructions in your worksheet.
NAME:
SCHOOL:
In this station you will be looking at the structure and function of the human eye. (9.5.2)
1. Read the “The eye: structure and function” info sheet provided at this station.
2. Find the set of laminated cards at your bench, showing:
 Structure in a purple box and
 Function in an orange box
3. Lay out all the cards on the bench and using the information you have been given, match
the structure cards to the function cards.
4. Once you have successfully matched each structure to function, fill in the questions
below.
Q. Which structures of the eye have a
function related to light?
Q. Which structures of the eye have a
function related to maintaining shape?
Q. List, in order, the structures of the eye, through which light passes to get to the retina.
Optional Activity… Read the information on “The eyes of the giant squid”.
Q. Why is it useful to giant squids to have such huge eyes?
Q. How does the functioning of a giant squid eye differ to that of a human?
In this station you will be looking at myopia and hyperopia and the use of concave and convex lenses
for sight correction. (9.5.3)
1. Read the “Myopia and Hyperopia” information given, and view the images of myopia
and hyperopia provided as well.
2. Find the set of four (4) cards and using the information provided match myopia and
hyperopia to the image of actual vision that you would see with each condition.
3. Once you have successfully matched both conditions, answer the questions below.
Q. Circle true or false for the statements below:
Short sightedness is the term used to define a person with hyperopia
True/False
A person with hyperopia will have clear vision when looking at objects that are far
away
True/False
In myopia the cornea or lens may be too weak
True/False
In hyperopia the eye is too short and the cornea may be too strong
True/False
There are two (2) pairs of glasses at this
station, one labelled +1.5 and another labelled
+3.0. Feel. free to try them on. It will most likely
look very blurry. These are reading glasses and
are used to correct vision.
Q. If a positive number indicates hyperopia and
a negative number indicates myopia, which of
the following would be used for short
sightedness? (Circle the correct answer)
+0.3
-0.3
Q. Which lens type would a +0.3 set of glasses
be using? (Circle correct answer)
Convex
Concave
Optional activity… Try the test for
short-sightedness.
Who do you see, Marilyn Munroe or Albert
Einstein?
How is this activity able to test for shortsightedness? (How does it work?)
In this station you will be trying on a number of vision simulation glasses, demonstrating a number of
diseases and conditions of the eye.
At this station you will find a set of six (6) glasses, each pair simulating a different type of eye
disease. Try each set of glasses on to get an idea of what an individual might see with each
particular condition. Try the activities given on the activity sheet while wearing them. Once you
are ready move onto the activity below.
1. Take out the laminated activity cards, there should be 18 cards all together.
2. Separate the cards into three piles as follows:
a. Pile 1: Name and description
b. Pile 2: Opthalmoscopic image
c. Pile 3: Actual view
3. Read the description of each disease and use the information given to match each disease
to its opthalmoscopic view and to actual vision.
4. Once you have correctly matched the set of cards, answer the questions below.
Q. Name three daily activities that
a person with tunnel vision might
find difficult?
Q. What steps could you take to prevent a
condition such as diabetic retinopathy?
Q. Shade over the photograph below, to show
what a person with diabetic retinopathy might see.
Q. Can you think of some possible
causes of retinal detachment?
In this station you will be learning about colour blindness and will perform a few colour blindness tests
to check for your own colour perception. (9.5.4)
Light travels and enters the eye in waves. Structures in the eye are able to detect these waves,
depending on the length of each incoming wave. The human eye has four types of light
receptors, these are:




Rods: These respond only to black, grey and white light
Red cones (Long wavelength)
Blue cones (Short wavelengths)
Green cones (Medium wavelengths)
Colour blindness is the inability or decreased ability to see colour and the most usual cause is a
fault in the development of one or more of the above mentioned cones.
Read the information provided on “colour blindness” and then complete the activities below.
There is a standard test for colour
blindness, known as the “Ishihara”
test. Five (5) Ishihara plates have
been provided for you to view and
try.
Q. Give the test a try. What
numbers can you see?
Optional activity… In what
way do other animal species
utilise colour vision for
communication purposes?
Q. List five daily activities that a person with colour
blindness might find difficult.
Q. What methods might you need to use for simple
tasks, such as getting dressed?
Q. How might colour blindness affect your career
options? List three careers/jobs that would require
you to have normal colour vision.
In this station you will be looking at human hearing and will develop an understanding of how the
human ear works. (9.5.6)
At this station you will find a large blue information board as well as a model of the human ear.
Use the information on the board provided to answer the questions below and to see if you can
identify the different structures on the ear model provided.
Q. Put the following
parts of the human
ear into the order in
which sound
progresses through
them (1-6).
____ Hammer
Q. What am I? (Use the blue board for information)
I am smaller than a grain of rice ___________
I am connect to the auditory nerve and I contain thousands of hair
cells and fluid _______________
I help you to detect where sound is coming from___________
____ Ear canal
I am an abnormal bone growth due to wind and water
irritation_________
____ Anvil
I cause the eardrum to vibrate__________
____ Cochlea
I am sent along the auditory nerve to the brain__________
____ Ear drum
I am mainly responsible for your sense of balance__________
____ Stirrup
I allow fluid in the middle ear to be displaced____________
Q. Why might a blocked Eustachian tube cause pain during a flight?
Optional activity… Try the audio
test on the iPad to check your
range of hearing. Enter results below
(lowest and highest frequency heard)
___________________________Hz
Q. Name three things you can do to protect
your hearing:
For this station you will be accessing a number of audios and videos on hearing and hearing loss
simulations, please make your way to the COMPUTER ROOM at the back of the museum.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Find a computer in the computer room.
Open up Mozilla (Firefox), by double clicking the icon on the desktop.
Enter the URL: www.diseasemuseum.wordpress.com
At the top of the page, you will notice the menu, which allows you to visit six separate
pages, each page associated with a particular part of this workshop.
5. For this activity, you will be looking at videos in STATION 3. Please open to this page.
6. Follow the instructions below to complete the activities.
If you are able to utilise headphones please do so, but they are not necessary. If you cannot
hear anything from your computer, check that the sound is not muted using the sound icon in
the bottom left of your screen.
Watch and listen to VIDEO 4. This video and audio simulates
mild, moderate and severe forms of hearing loss. Notice how
muffled the sound becomes and you are less able to
distinguish between each individual sound.
Now, watch and listen to AUDIO 13, “Unfair hearing/spelling
test”. Enter your results below into the three columns:
Listen to the following
videos, each simulate a
particular type of hearing
loss or device:
 Video 3
 Video 7
 Video 5
Optional activity…
Click on Station 2 and watch
the two human larynx videos
in preparation for station
eight on sound production.
You can also have a look at
any of the other videos in
station 2, on animal sound
production and
echolocation.
For this station you will complete an adaptive tutorial on communication technologies using one of our
computers in the COMPUTER ROOM at the back of the museum. (9.5.6)
1. Find a computer in the computer room.
2. On the “desktop” you will find an icon titled “Communication Technologies”. Please
double click on this icon to open the program.
3. You should be looking at the first title page of the program “Human Communication &
Technology”. If not, please click on the blue “restart lesson” button in the top right hand
corner of the page.
4. You may now begin the tutorial by clicking the “next” button in the bottom right hand
corner.
5. Once you have successfully completed the tutorial and the “Let’s compare” section,
complete the activity below, by entering the type of energy transfer occurring.
Device name:
Device name:
In this station you will be looking at frequency, amplitude, pitch and wavelength and will look at
human versus animal sound production. (9.5.5 & 9.5.6)
1. Find the activity pack. There should be 12 laminated cards in total.
2. Read the information on frequency, pitch and amplitude
3. Group cards into three piles:
1. Voice and pitch (4 red border cards)
2. Amplitude and frequency (4 blue boarder cards)
3. Wave images (4 Cards)
4. Start with pile 1, match to a card in pile 2 and then to a card in pile 3.
5. Once you have matched all cards move on to the activity below
At this station you will find a set of tables showing hearing frequencies for humans and a
number of other animals. Graph human hearing and select 5 other animals to chart below.
Q. Can you think of any devices or purposes humans might utilise animal and human
frequency ranges?
In this station you will be looking at human sound production and will compare this to the sound
production methods of other animals. (9.5.5)
Q. Label the following diagram of the human
larynx:
Optional activity… Circle each part
of the body below that is involved in
human speech and sound production:
Diaphragm
Oesophagus
Trachea
Nose
Brain
Lungs
Tongue
Mouth
Q. Use the instructions provided in this station's activity pack to produce sound using the balloons.
What is causing sound to be produced in this way?
_______________________________________________________________________________
How does the sound produced, change as the space or gap for the air flow changes?
_______________________________________________________________________________
How does this balloon activity demonstrate sound production from the larynx?
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
Q. Select a bat, dolphin, cricket or cicada and describe the method by which they produce sound.
In this station you will be looking at an “action potential” and will use checkers to demonstrate the
different phases of a potential. (9.5.7)
1. At this station you should have a large board with 4 phases on it, a set of red and green
checkers and a set of information about “action potentials”
An action potential is a nerve impulse that acts like an electrical signal. Action potentials run along
nerve fibres and are what allow information such as what we see, hear and touch to be relayed to
the brain.
2. Use the checkers to demonstrate each phase of an action potential using the information
provided.
Remember RED checkers are Sodium ions (Na) and GREEN checkers are Potassium ions (K)
3. When you have successfully demonstrated each phase, try it again from memory.
4. Once you are confident with each phase complete the activity below.
Q. Label the letters from the graph below, to show the different phases of an action potential,
including: Resting, Depolarization, Repolarization and Hyperpolarization
A_________________
Membrane
Potential
B_________________
C_________________
+40
D_________________
B
C
0
A
-70
A
D
Time
In this station you will be creating an “action potential” and will use dominoes to demonstrate phases
and the “all or nothing” characteristic of an action potential. (9.5.7)
1. At this station you should have a set of black and white checkers and a set of
instructions/information on “action potentials”
An action potential is a nerve impulse that acts like an electrical signal. Action potentials run
along nerve fibres and are what allow information such as what we see, hear and touch to be
relayed to the brain.
2. Grab the pack of dominoes and setup the dominoes in a straight line or configuration of
your choice.
3. Once they are set up you need to demonstrate the “all or nothing” principle of an action
potential. To do this, gently tap the first domino, so that it just moves, but does not fall
down.
4. Now this time, push the domino with enough force for it to fall and in the process trigger
the other dominoes to also fall over onto each other.
5. Set the activity up again, but this time take note of the phases as you are completing the
activity (use the information provided)
6. Complete the question below.
Q. Draw a line to match each of the images below to a phase in the action potential
Resting Phase
Depolarization
Repolarization
Hyperpolarization
In this station you will be looking at the human brain and the different regions and sections that are
associated with different functions and activities. (9.5.7)
Using the information provided about the brain and its regions and functions colour in the
following two brains, using the pencils provided at your station.
Colour in and label the parts
associated with:
1. Speech
2. Vision
3. Hearing
Colour in and label the
regions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Frontal Lobe
Parietal lobe
Occipital lobe
Temporal Lobe
Cerebellum
Medulla Oblongata
Optional Activity… Select one region of the brain and outline how it can be affected by
alcohol consumption.
The following are some activities you might like to try at home or back at school.
Try some OPTICAL ILLUSIONS…
An optical or visual illusion is characterized by visually perceived images that differ from
objective reality. The information gathered by the eye is processed by the brain to give a
perception that does not match with any physical measurements received. Magic eye illusions,
like the strawberry images above, are austereograms. These allow some people (not everyone
can do them!) to see 3D images by focussing on 2D patterns.
For more optical illusions and images visit www.magiceye.com and www.eyetricks.com
Don’t forget to try the optical illusions available on our Communication Workshop Blog…
www.diseasemuseum.wordpress.com
STATION 1, Videos 3 to 9 will test your visual perception…
Are you really seeing what you think you’re seeing?
Check out all the other amazing videos and audios at our Communication Workshop Blog:
www.diseasemuseum.wordpress.com
Our favourites include:






Is your red the same as my red? (Station 2)
Virtual barber shop (Station 3) - Make sure you use headphones for this one!
Inside the voice – the larynx (Station 4)
Cochlear implant activation (Station 5)
Man sees with a “bionic eye” (Station 5) – This is not what you think!
The McGurk effect (Station 6)
Daniel Kish has been blind since he was a baby but that has not stopped him living an incredibly
active life that includes hiking and mountain biking. To do this he has perfected a form of human
echolocation, used by bats, dolphins and whales, using reflected sound waves to build a mental
picture of his surroundings.
For more on Daniel’s amazing ability, have a look at the video on our blog (Station 4, Video 6) or
visit: http://www.worldaccessfortheblind.org/
Ethical and Social
Implications of
Communication
Technologies
Hopefully you have had a
chance to learn about cochlear
implantation. It is important to
note that many advances in
medical and health
technologies, both modern
and those through history have
come with a number of social
and ethical implications. Have
a look at the newspaper
clipping to the left. This
clipping shows one particular
attitude towards implantation
of the device in children. How
do you feel about the use of
the device? Do you think there
is any merit in this view?