Audiogram interpretation
Safety gate · before any work
- Wear the required PPE, keep the bench clear, handle equipment only as directed, and know where the eyewash, sink, and spill kit are before you start.
- Human samples and data stay private: label with a code, never a name, and dispose of materials in the correct waste container, then wash your hands.
Do now
Read an audiogram to describe the type and severity of a patient's hearing loss using decibel and frequency language.
- Hand in
- Labeled audiogram with threshold plots, speech banana marked, and one-sentence severity classification.
- Where
- Turn this in at the drop folder with your district Microsoft sign-in, or hand it to Mr. Mendoza in class. Both count as submitted. Doing the activity in myPLTW does not.
You get two school days for every day you were absent, so this deadline moves with you.
Given a patient whose thresholds sit at 15 dB in the low frequencies but drop to 65 dB at 4000 Hz, which everyday sounds fall out of their world, and is this loss mild, moderate, or severe?
Read an to describe the type and severity of a patient's hearing loss using decibel and frequency language.
- • You'll be able to plot and read thresholds on an .
- • You'll be able to classify a hearing loss by severity from the data.
- On an , which way do the numbers go for a worse ear: higher up the chart or lower down? Why?
- The speech banana covers the sounds of normal conversation. If a patient's line drops below it, what will they struggle to hear?
- 1Label the two axes of a blank : frequency in hertz across the top, loudness in decibels down the side.
- 2Trace one patient's right-ear and left-ear thresholds onto the chart from the in the shell.
- 3Mark the speech banana region and decide which sounds this patient would and would not hear.
- 4Classify the loss as mild, moderate, severe, or profound, and write one sentence of evidence for your call.
- 5Submit your labeled and classification as your daily evidence.
What did this day actually feel like?
Audiogram interpretation
Reading an audiogram: frequency across, loudness down, and the shape of the curve tells you what kind of loss it is.
High frequency loss first is the common pattern, which is why consonants go before vowels and people say they can hear you but cannot understand you.
Turned in: data table → Data Tables folder
Fiction. There is no such student. The lessons, labs and dates are the real planned course; the student, the classmates and the conversations are invented.
The same day, drawn.
Reading an audiogram: frequency across, loudness down, and the shape of the curve tells you what kind of loss it is.
Fiction. There is no such student. The lessons, labs and dates are the real planned course; the student, the classmates and the conversations are invented.
🛠 Get unstuck · pick your level
Lab day: Tier 1 is the whole class at the bench. No extension today.
🔑 Today's words · 5
Tap a word in the lesson for a plain meaning and one example. Recycled into next week's Do-Now.
Do the work · 80-minute blockfirst 5 min = hook▸
💡 Big idea: The plots louder thresholds farther down the chart so that a lower line reads as worse hearing, which lets a clinician classify severity and predict exactly which speech sounds a patient will miss.
- 0-8Axis labeling guided practice on blank
- 8-20Trace right- and left-ear thresholds from
- 20-35Mark speech banana; identify which phonemes patient misses
- 35-50Classify loss severity; write evidence sentence
- 50-70Partner check: swap audiograms, verify each other's plots
- 70-80Submit labeled and classification; preview Wednesday lab
- • Hook: Show a blank and ask students what they think the axes mean before labeling.
- • Why it matters: Every cochlear implant candidacy decision starts with reading this graph.
- • Today's work: You will plot real threshold data and classify a patient's loss using clinical ranges.
- • Exit goal: Labeled and one-sentence severity classification submitted by block end.
- • axes: frequency (Hz, low-to-high left-to-right) and threshold (dB HL, increasing downward).
- • The speech banana spans roughly 500-4000 Hz at 25-65 dB, covering most conversational sounds.
- • Severity classifications: normal (<25 dB), mild (26-40), moderate (41-55), severe (56-70), profound (>70).
Auditory anatomy, audiograms, cochlear implants, immune response, vaccine design, herd immunity. · interpretation
Day 2 of this lesson. Open this exact section in myPLTW (find it in Clever, Microsoft sign-in), then do the work below.
Do this: Open Activity 1.3.2 Can You Hear Me Now in myPLTW and use the data from the case to plot and classify hearing thresholds.
Mark the activity complete after your labeled chart and severity classification are submitted.
Monday debate should be posted; work due today.
Labeled with threshold plots, speech banana, and severity classification submitted.
The official PLTW activity stays inside myPLTW. If myPLTW will not open, use F1 and E1-E3 on this page to complete today's local evidence decision, then make up the official activity when access returns. Turn this in at the drop folder with your district Microsoft sign-in, or hand it to Mr. Mendoza in class. Both count as submitted. Doing the activity in myPLTW does not.
Check things off as you work, then submit. This tells Mr. Mendoza how you're doing so he can help the class. It does not replace turning in your producible through the submission route shown below.
Use the code Mr. Mendoza gave you, not your name. Saved on this device.
Auditory anatomy, audiograms, cochlear implants, immune response, vaccine design, herd immunity. · Audiogram interpretation
Open Activity 1.3.2 Can You Hear Me Now in myPLTW and use the data from the case to plot and classify hearing thresholds.
Monday debate should be posted; work due today.
This is how Mr. Mendoza sees the class keeping pace with PLTW. Be honest, it only helps if it is accurate.
🎯 Read an to describe the type and severity of a patient's hearing loss using decibel and frequency language.
- Label the two axes of a blank : frequency in hertz across the top, loudness in decibels down the side.
- Trace one patient's right-ear and left-ear thresholds onto the chart from the in the shell.
- Mark the speech banana region and decide which sounds this patient would and would not hear.
- Classify the loss as mild, moderate, severe, or profound, and write one sentence of evidence for your call.
- Submit your labeled and classification as your daily evidence.
Data table: Labeled with threshold plots, speech banana marked, and one-sentence severity classification.
Turn this in at the drop folder with your district Microsoft sign-in, or hand it to Mr. Mendoza in class. Both count as submitted. Doing the activity in myPLTW does not. Use the checklist just below and upload by 11:29 PM for full credit. Absent with an excused absence? You get two school days for every day you were absent, so this deadline moves with you.
| Task | Who |
|---|---|
| Label the two axes of a blank : frequency in hertz across the top, loudness in decibels down the side. | _______ |
| Trace one patient's right-ear and left-ear thresholds onto the chart from the in the shell. | _______ |
| Mark the speech banana region and decide which sounds this patient would and would not hear. | _______ |
| Classify the loss as mild, moderate, severe, or profound, and write one sentence of evidence for your call. | _______ |
| Submit your labeled and classification as your daily evidence. | _______ |
Working solo? Put your own name in "Who" for every row.
- You'll be able to plot and read thresholds on an .
- You'll be able to classify a hearing loss by severity from the data.
- 1Do thisRead an audiogram to describe the type and severity of a patient's hearing loss using decibel and frequency language.
- 2Use this resource
- 3Submit thisData table: Labeled audiogram with threshold plots, speech banana marked, and one-sentence severity classification.
- 4Submit it here
- 1Open the drop folder.
- 2Sign in with your district Microsoft account, not a personal one.
- 3Upload the file, named Lastname_Firstname__Assignment Title.
- 4Your own upload panel says Uploaded with a green check: that is your receipt.
Turn this in at the drop folder with your district Microsoft sign-in, or hand it to Mr. Mendoza in class. Both count as submitted. Doing the activity in myPLTW does not. Genetics of Disease (Medical Interventions) › Auditory anatomy, audiograms, cochlear implants, immune response, vaccine design, herd immunity. › Data tableOpen the drop folder
Learn it · deck, reading, and vocabulary▸
The deck carries the prior idea forward, lets you inspect an analogy, maps the rule to biology, and ends with the same evidence decision and exit ticket used on this page.
Generated from this lesson's canonical data with a red-team citation check.
A cochlear implant carries a hidden claim about what counts as normal, so deciding to use it on a child who cannot consent is an ethical choice, not just a clinical one.
The plots louder thresholds farther down the chart so that a lower line reads as worse hearing, which lets a clinician classify severity and predict exactly which speech sounds a patient will miss.
An airport checkpoint uses several imperfect checks before deciding what action to take.
- What can each check detect?
- What might create a false alarm?
- Why is one result not always enough?
A decision is stronger when the test fits the question and its limits are known.
Medical decisions also depend on biology, patient context, ethics, and professional judgment.
- • Checkpoint evidence maps to E1-E3.
- • False alarms map to test limitations.
- • The response maps to the justified next intervention or test.
Driving question: Given a patient whose thresholds sit at 15 dB in the low frequencies but drop to 65 dB at 4000 Hz, which everyday sounds fall out of their world, and is this loss mild, moderate, or severe?
What you already know: A cochlear implant carries a hidden claim about what counts as normal, so deciding to use it on a child who cannot consent is an ethical choice, not just a clinical one.
New idea: The plots louder thresholds farther down the chart so that a lower line reads as worse hearing, which lets a clinician classify severity and predict exactly which speech sounds a patient will miss.
Visual or model: F1. F1. A lesson illustration or teaching diagram for Audiogram interpretation. Use it with E1-E3; it is a model or context image, not experimental or patient data. What to notice: Trace the labeled testing, treatment, or biological process and identify where evidence limits the decision.
- Observe or measure the relevant feature in interpretation.
- Organize the observation with a stable evidence ID.
- Apply this rule: A decision is stronger when the test fits the question and its limits are known.
- Choose the option the evidence supports and state the limit of the conclusion.
Real biomedical example: Given a patient whose thresholds sit at 15 dB in the low frequencies but drop to 65 dB at 4000 Hz, which everyday sounds fall out of their world, and is this loss mild, moderate, or severe?
What the evidence supports: E1-E3 and F1 support the daily take-home when the response meets the stated success criteria.
What it cannot prove: The package does not support claims beyond this lesson's or any real patient diagnosis.
- • : The spiral, snail-shaped part of the inner ear that turns sound vibrations into nerve signals the brain reads as hearing.
- • : A sensory cell in the inner ear with tiny hair-like bundles that convert sound vibrations or movement into nerve signals the brain can read.
- • : A graph from a hearing test that plots the softest sounds a person can hear at different pitches, showing the type and degree of any hearing loss.
- • : A preparation that trains the immune system to recognize a specific , building protection so the body can fight it off faster later.
- • : Protection that arises when enough people in a community are immune to a disease that its spread slows and shields those who are not immune.
- • : The part of the immune system that learns a specific , builds targeted antibodies and memory cells, and responds faster the next time it appears.
Use it now: Choose one decision option. Cite E1 and E3, then explain how the rule connects the evidence to your choice.
Go further, optional: The source links below are optional enrichment. Every fact required for today's local evidence decision appears in this lesson package.
axes: frequency (Hz, low-to-high left-to-right) and threshold (dB HL, increasing downward).
Limit: E1 supplies context or an observation; it does not by itself establish the explanation.
The plots louder thresholds farther down the chart so that a lower line reads as worse hearing, which lets a clinician classify severity and predict exactly which speech sounds a patient will miss.
Limit: E2 is a teaching statement or comparison and must be checked against the task evidence.
You'll be able to plot and read thresholds on an .
Limit: E3 supports only the result or product criterion named here; it cannot justify a broader clinical or causal claim.
PLTW-GEND-2026-10-06 · Simulated classroom evidence scenario
Your role: medical interventions team member
Decision: Your team must decide what the evidence from interpretation supports before submitting the labeled and result claim named on the lesson page.
- • Select the option best supported by E1-E3.
- • Select a reasonable alternative and name the evidence it would require.
- • Delay the claim because the evidence does not distinguish the options.
Response: State one choice, cite at least two evidence IDs, explain the rule that connects them, and add one limitation. Submit it as the labeled and result claim.
Claim ceiling: The supplied lesson evidence can support an observation, pattern, classroom mechanism, or next-step decision about interpretation. It cannot by itself prove causation, establish a real clinical diagnosis, or justify action outside this classroom task.
Reason for review: Your team must decide what the evidence from interpretation supports before submitting the labeled and result claim named on the lesson page.
Context: A single well-designed graph can convert a private, invisible experience into a shared measurement that drives real medical decisions.
- • T1: Label the two axes of a blank : frequency in hertz across the top, loudness in decibels down the side.
- • T2: Trace one patient's right-ear and left-ear thresholds onto the chart from the in the shell.
- • T3: Mark the speech banana region and decide which sounds this patient would and would not hear.
- • T4: Classify the loss as mild, moderate, severe, or profound, and write one sentence of evidence for your call.
- • T5: Submit your labeled and classification as your daily evidence.
- • E1: axes: frequency (Hz, low-to-high left-to-right) and threshold (dB HL, increasing downward).
- • E2: The plots louder thresholds farther down the chart so that a lower line reads as worse hearing, which lets a clinician classify severity and predict exactly which speech sounds a patient will miss.
- • E3: You'll be able to plot and read thresholds on an .
Measurements: Use only the measurements, units, graph, or counts supplied in today's task. No additional patient measurement is implied.
Figure finding: Teaching diagram for interpretation. Trace the labeled testing, treatment, or biological process and identify where evidence limits the decision. This is a teaching model, not patient or experimental data.
Uncertainty: This is a composite classroom scenario. Missing history, measurements, or confirmation tests remain unknown and limit the conclusion.
Mean = sum of values / number of values. Median = middle ordered value. Range = maximum - minimum.
For 2, 4, 4, and 10: mean = 20 / 4 = 5, median = 4, and range = 10 - 2 = 8.
Mean, median, and range keep the measurement unit. Order the values before finding the median.
Calculate the requested summary for today's supplied values, then write what it reveals and what it hides.
Students often think Students read the like a normal graph and assume a line near the top of the chart means worse hearing because it is a 'high' number.. The trap: On an the threshold axis increases downward, so a line lower on the chart means it took a louder sound before the patient heard it, which is worse hearing. Reading it upside down flips every classification, so a profound loss gets mislabeled as normal.
I labeled the axes: frequency in hertz across the top (low pitch on the left, high pitch on the right) and loudness in decibels down the side (soft at the top, loud at the bottom). I plotted Patient A's right-ear thresholds from the data table.
What the plot shows: Patient A hears low frequencies at about 30 dB but needs high frequencies (2000 to 4000 Hz) turned up to 60 to 65 dB before hearing them. That high-frequency region overlaps part of the speech banana, so this patient would miss soft consonant sounds like s, f, and th while still hearing vowels.
Classification: I classify this as a moderate hearing loss, because the worst thresholds fall in the 41 to 55 dB range, with evidence that the 2000 to 4000 Hz thresholds sit at 55 to 65 dB.
| Frequency (Hz) | Right-ear threshold (dB HL) |
|---|---|
| 250 | 30 |
| 500 | 35 |
| 1000 | 45 |
| 2000 | 55 |
| 4000 | 65 |
This model shows the level of evidence and organization needed to complete: Completes the audiogram reading task: a labeled audiogram with plotted thresholds, the speech banana marked, and a one-sentence severity classification with evidence.
- Name the variables and include units.
- Enter observations without changing the raw values.
- Check labels, calculations, and patterns before interpreting the data.
Keep the structure. Replace the question, facts, measurements, and evidence. Then recheck units, vocabulary, and whether the conclusion goes beyond the evidence.
Also due today: Submit your annotated audiogram and classification to the class site.
- CER:
- Claim, Evidence, Reasoning: make a claim, back it with evidence, explain your reasoning.
- SOP:
- Standard Operating Procedure, the exact steps to follow (especially in a lab).
- Tracker:
- Your PLTW progress log where you record completed evidence.
- myPLTW:
- The PLTW course site where you do the online activities. Find it in Clever with your Microsoft sign-in, right next to Schoology.
Tap the speaker to hear a term. Add two of these to your notebook glossary with a definition and an example in your own words.
Pick just 2 or 3 words from today and make them yours: write what each one means in your own words, name the context clue or evidence that helped, then give one example from what you actually did in Audiogram interpretation. Try your own words first; the glossary is there if you get stuck. This is voluntary and counts as extra credit, so keep it short.
Saved on this device. Show Mr. Mendoza or add these to your notebook glossary to claim the extra credit.
Classroom documents for this lesson are posted in Schoology. Open Clever, then Schoology, and find each one by the name shown on its card.
Use this with the vaccination lesson to connect development to a real example.
Placement rationale
Relocated to the vaccination lesson (Unit 1.4), where the COVID activity supports the day. Visibility: student-schoology.
Use this if you were absent, got stuck, or need another pass before you submit the lesson artifact.
Placement rationale
Matched Hearing loss, cochlear implants, vaccines by path:Medical-Interventions/Unit-1_How-to-Fight-Infection/1.3_Hearing-Loss; keywords:hearing, , cochlear. Score 142. Visibility: student-schoology (student-facing resource; link through Schoology rather than local path).
Use this if you were absent, got stuck, or need another pass before you submit the lesson artifact.
Placement rationale
Matched Hearing loss, cochlear implants, vaccines by path:Medical-Interventions/Unit-1_How-to-Fight-Infection/1.4_Vaccination; keywords:, vaccination. Score 142. Visibility: student-schoology (student-facing resource; link through Schoology rather than local path).
Open this when the class reaches this activity and use it to complete the required lesson artifact.
Placement rationale
Matched Hearing loss, cochlear implants, vaccines by path:Medical-Interventions/Unit-1_How-to-Fight-Infection/1.4_Vaccination; keywords:, vaccination. Score 142. Visibility: student-schoology (student-facing resource; link through Schoology rather than local path).
How to get there: open Clever and sign in with your Microsoft (district) account. Both myPLTW and Schoology are in Clever. Do the activity in myPLTW. Turn the work in on this site or hand it to Mr. Mendoza, because that is the step that counts as submitted. Schoology only shows your report-card grade later.
Check yourself · commit, then reveal▸
Claim ceiling for this check: The supplied lesson evidence can support an observation, pattern, classroom mechanism, or next-step decision about interpretation. It cannot by itself prove causation, establish a real clinical diagnosis, or justify action outside this classroom task.
A patient's right-ear thresholds are 20 dB at 500 Hz and 68 dB at 4000 Hz. Classify the overall loss by severity and name the evidence for your call.
Write an answer and pick a confidence to unlock the key.
Fast retrieval with instant answers, not the commit-then-reveal check above. Try each from memory first: write what you remember about the earlier units, then check yourself here.
Go further and get help▸
I can name the procedure's purpose and the evidence I will record. I can identify each named hazard and the control that reduces it: Wear the required PPE, keep the bench clear, handle equipment only as directed, and know where the eyewash, sink, and spill kit are before you start. My data table is ready before materials are handled.
Finish the checklist before you handle any material.
- • Wear the required PPE, keep the bench clear, handle equipment only as directed, and know where the eyewash, sink, and spill kit are before you start.
- • Human samples and data stay private: label with a code, never a name, and dispose of materials in the correct waste container, then wash your hands.
- 1Before materials are handled, identify the purpose, variables or comparison, controls, measurement units, and stop-work condition.
- 2Label the two axes of a blank audiogram: frequency in hertz across the top, loudness in decibels down the side.
- 3Trace one patient's right-ear and left-ear thresholds onto the chart from the data table in the shell.
- 4Mark the speech banana region and decide which sounds this patient would and would not hear.
- 5Classify the loss as mild, moderate, severe, or profound, and write one sentence of evidence for your call.
- 6Submit your labeled audiogram and classification as your daily evidence.
- 7Record each result in the prepared table before interpreting it. Mark missing, repeated, or invalid results truthfully.
- 8Complete the named cleanup and waste route, remove PPE safely, wash hands when required, and confirm the station is ready for the next group.
| Trial or sample ID | Independent condition | Measured result with units | Observation before interpretation | Quality-control note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Before the procedure, predict the result and cite the rule behind the prediction.
After the procedure, compare the result with the prediction and name one limitation or source of uncertainty.
What today's skills lead to. These are real health-science careers this course builds toward. Tap one to see, on the US Department of Labor's O*NET site, what the job actually involves, what it pays, and how fast it is growing.
Today is individual work you can do from home: complete the same target above, then submit your Data table.
Open the drop folderTurn this in at the drop folder with your district Microsoft sign-in, or hand it to Mr. Mendoza in class. Both count as submitted. Doing the activity in myPLTW does not.
Class still runs. Complete the online activity above (it's self-guided). Need the concept taught without a teacher? Use this authoritative explainer:
NIH MedlinePlus- CompleteEvery required part of the artifact is present, nothing left blank.
- AccurateThe science and the data are correct and match the evidence.
- Scientific reasoningYou explain your claim with evidence and reasoning (CER), not just an answer.
- Professional communicationClear, organized, labeled, and written the way a clinician or scientist would.
- SubmittedTurned in the right way, on the class site or handed to Mr. Mendoza in class, and confirmed. Not in Schoology: that is where the report-card grade appears later.
- Error analysis and method · counts doubleName a specific limit of the method and how it moved your result, and compare what you predicted to what happened. "Human error" does not count; say what about the procedure or instrument caused it.