Have you ever thought to yourself… how do we hear? It’s a very simple question and something that most of us if we are lucky, do every day without thinking. Today whilst performing our Sounds Fantastic workshop to a group of year 4’s, I asked myself that very question. Yes, I know your all thinking, was that the right time to be having such thoughts? Well, hopefully the teachers didn’t notice, but as I started to arrange the children with various props and costumes I started to analyze the process. The outer ear, which in my opinion isn’t one of our best human features, captures vibrations travelling through the air, channels this sound through to the inner ear (which like most of the important parts of our body goes unnoticed) and then passes this information (electrical pulses) to the brain. This is all done in a time that is incomprehensible to anyone. The children having explored the details of the ear, worked hard to try to replicate the speed, but alas were no match.
That is the beauty of our amazing bodies, everything has been created over thousands of years to work effortlessly. To be taken for granted, so that we can do the important things such as listen to Beyoncé or Adele (don’t want to be controversial) or sing in the shower because you know you sound great!
So when you’re in the classroom and it seems no one is listening to you, it might just be that the air in the room is not making your voice travel fast enough to those little ears. That will be the children’s excuse anyway!