This page contains the material submitted to the local paper - The Davis Enterprise - for Explorit Science Center's news column published in that paper on Fridays.

Did you know that the three smallest bones in your body are located in your ear?

Explorit Science Center’s current exhibition, “What a Shock! The Human Nervous System” is a must see. Visit Davis’s only hands-on science center this month to learn all about your nervous system.

You and your family will experience great fun discovering how the brain and nervous system work, as well as how our five senses send messages to the brain. Many enjoy spending time at the activities where you try to fool your senses!

One of your five senses, your hearing, is explored in “What a Shock! The Human Nervous System.” Learn how your ear works, and experiment with sound waves. Test your voice with an oscilloscope to see what sound waves you can create.

Your ear has three main parts: the outer ear, the middle ear, and the inner ear. The outer ear consists of those big flaps on the sides of our heads which most people call their ear. The technical term for this part is the auricle. The auricle acts as a funnel to channel sound waves into the ear canal which leads to your eardrum.

Let’s imagine that someone just called your name. Those sound waves, after being funneled into the ear canal, end up hitting the ear drum, located in the middle ear. As those sound waves hit, the eardrum vibrates. The eardrum is attached to the three smallest bones in your body, the hammer, anvil and stirrup. These bones vibrate with the eardrum and send those vibrations to the inner ear.

The first part of the inner ear to receive the vibrations is call the cochlea. Inside the cochlea, hair cells change the vibrations into nerve impulses. These impulses travel through the auditory nerve to the brain. The brain, in turn, interprets the signal as sound and recognizes the sound as your name. The brain then responds by sending a signal along motor nerves to the head and neck, and you turn your head to see who is calling you.

Have you ever heard that loud noise can damage your hearing? Well, it’s true. Listening to loud sounds, especially for a long time, can seriously damage hair cells in the inner ear.

It has recently been discovered that many pig farmers suffer from severe and permanent hearing loss. Pig farmers? That’s right, because pigs squeal for joy when they are about to be fed. About 1,000 pigs can produce a sound almost as loud as a clap of very loud thunder!

Organs inside your inner ear also play a vital roll in our senses of motion and balance. The inner ear is responsible for detecting these sensations. This would explain why inner ear infections often result in symptoms of dizziness.

Come to Explorit Science Center’s educational exhibition on the human nervous system. Even though Explorit’s exhibitions are geared for children in 1st through 6th grade, everyone will come away learning something new!

Quoted as the “best exhibit yet!” by many visitors, make sure you don’t miss out on this great exhibition.

---------------------------------------------

Explorit Science Center is located at 3141 5th Street in East Davis. The current exhibition is “What a Shock! The Human Nervous System.” Public hours are Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Sunday from 1:00 to 4:30 p.m., and Tuesday through Friday from 2:00 to 4:30 p.m. Regular admission is $3; members, teachers (with school ID) and children under 4 are free.