It’s Too Loud!
Introduction
Ask: What is noise?
Ask: Is music noise? (no -why not?)
How do we measure noise? : «A decibel is a unit used to measure the intensity of a noise or sound. The most common instrument used for measure noise levels is a Noise Level Meter (also known as a sound
level meter). In its most basic form, a noise level meter consists of a microphone, internal electronic components, and a display.» (show real life or picture of e.g. image of a hand held noise level meter)
Share the following information: “Sounds at or below 70 dB are considered safe for our hearing. That’s the sound of a normal conversation between two people. Sounds above 70 dB will damage hearing over time. Like the Richter scale for measuring earthquakes, the decibel scale is logarithmic. This means that loudness is not directly proportional to sound intensity. Instead, the intensity of a sound grows very fast. A sound at 20 dB is 10 times more intense than a sound at 10 dB, and would be perceived as twice as loud.
If we need to shout at a friend who is an arm’s length away, or we can hear music coming out of another person’s headphones, the volume is at least 85 dB, which is the maximum “safe level” for workplace noise exposure over the course of an eight-hour day.”
Source: https://hearinghealthfoundation.org/keeplistening/decibels
Objectives
- To understand the concept of noise pollution
- To help students realise that in Europe, people experience noise
pollution to different extents - To understand how noise pollution affects health
- To understand that some sections of society are more exposed
and more vulnerable - To develop ideas to manage their own noise exposure and ideas
for civic application
Learning outcomes
By the end of this learning scenario, students will be able to:
- Learn how noise is measured and learn examples of typical
measurements in everyday life. - Understand what noise pollution is and speak about the impact
on human health. - Realise that different sectors of society are exposed more or less
to noise pollution and the associated health threats - Relate ‘justice’ and ‘injustice’ to the topic.
- Consider how measures they can take for themselves and
suggest to civic authorities.