Audiogram interpretation
Open your materials, follow the steps, then turn in your work.
Read an audiogram to describe the type and severity of a patient's hearing loss using decibel and frequency language.
1. Open your materials
Use the materials named in the first step below. Open lesson resources.
2. Start the work
Label the two axes of a blank audiogram: frequency in hertz across the top, loudness in decibels down the side.
Show all 5 required steps
- Label the two axes of a blank audiogram: 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 data table 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 audiogram and classification as your daily evidence.
Lost your place? Lost your place? Your audiogram should already have both axes labeled and both ears traced from the data table in the shell. If it does, your next move is to mark the speech banana, classify the loss by severity, and write one sentence of evidence before you submit.
Check your work before submitting
- You'll be able to plot and read thresholds on an audiogram.
- You'll be able to classify a hearing loss by severity from the data.
Before lab work: read the safety rules
- 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.
3. Turn in your work
DueCheck Schoology- Hand in
- Labeled audiogram with threshold plots, speech banana marked, and one-sentence severity classification.
How to submit and name your file
Use the submission route shown on today's today's page.
In Schoology, open your course and the assignment for this lesson. Attach your file, select Submit, and check that it appears in the submission.
PDF upload helpYou get two school days for every day you were absent, so this deadline moves with you.
Find this lesson's Schoology assignments
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How this lesson connects
Keep using what you learned last class: 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. Today: The audiogram plots louder thresholds farther down the chart so that a lower line reads as worse hearing, which lets a clinician classify severity and predict which range of speech sounds is likely to be hardest to hear.
Optional: listen or watch a unit review▸
Need help? Warm-up, timing, and directions▸
💡 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 which range of speech sounds is likely to be hardest to hear.
- 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).
PLTW connection and today's work
Open Activity 1.3.3 Cochlear Implants in myPLTW and use the case audiogram data to plot and classify hearing thresholds.
Today's stopping point: Monday debate should be posted; audiogram work due today.
PLTW activity titles identify the course connection. If your account will not open, use the posted materials for today and tell Mr. Mendoza. Do not mark an online activity complete unless you completed it.
Use the turn-in directions at the top of this page. Do not create a second submission unless your teacher asks for one.
Show another explanation or a smaller first step
Need help? Choose a starting point
Finish the assigned lab safely before starting extra practice.
Lesson resources: reading, slides, 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 which range of speech sounds is likely to be hardest to hear.
An airport checkpoint uses an ID check, a metal detector, and an X-ray scanner.
- What can the ID check detect?
- What might set off the metal detector by mistake?
- Why do we need the X-ray if we already checked their ID?
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.
- • The ID check maps to confirming patient identity.
- • The metal detector maps to a rapid, non-specific screening test.
- • The X-ray scanner maps to a detailed, specific diagnostic 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 which range of speech sounds is likely to be hardest to hear.
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 delivers an (or the instructions to make one) so the immune system learns to recognize the real 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.
An records hearing thresholds by frequency and intensity; it helps characterize hearing loss but does not predict every real-world speech perception outcome by itself.
Limit: Interpretation also depends on test conditions, type of hearing loss, speech testing, history, and clinical evaluation.
A decision is stronger when the test fits the question and its limits are known.
Limit: Medical decisions also depend on biology, patient context, ethics, and professional judgment.
You can plot and read thresholds on an .
Limit: E3 defines the classroom product or success criterion. It is not independent scientific evidence and cannot justify a clinical or causal claim.
PLTW-GEND-2026-10-08 · 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 today's page.
- • Wait to apply the model here until someone measures how many students are actually vaccinated and how they mix.
- • Explain protection as memory cells built from before exposure, so enough covered students break the chain of spread.
- • Describe the as a small dose of the real disease, so being vaccinated means getting slightly sick first.
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: Today's evidence supports a classroom claim about interpretation. It cannot prove causation, diagnose a real patient, or justify action outside this room.
Reason for review: Your team must decide what the evidence from interpretation supports before submitting the labeled and result claim named on today's 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: An records hearing thresholds by frequency and intensity; it helps characterize hearing loss but does not predict every real-world speech perception outcome by itself.
- • E2: A decision is stronger when the test fits the question and its limits are known.
- • E3: You can 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 moderately severe hearing loss, because the worst thresholds, at 2000 to 4000 Hz, sit at 55 to 65 dB, and 56 to 70 dB is the moderately severe band.
| 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 Schoology.
- 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).
Sign in to Clever with your district Microsoft account to open Schoology or myPLTW. Follow today's posted steps. If myPLTW will not open, use the posted alternative and tell Mr. Mendoza. Turn in your completed work through the Schoology assignment.
Practice: try a question, then check your answer▸
Claim ceiling for this check: Today's evidence supports a classroom claim about interpretation. It cannot prove causation, diagnose a real patient, or justify action outside this room.
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.
Missed class or ready for more?▸
Run this before you touch the bench. It is built from the real lab procedure, so the decisions you make here are the ones you will make with the equipment in your hands.
I can name the procedure's purpose and the evidence I will record. I can state today's specific hazards and the control for each. If this deck does not name them, I ask Mr. Mendoza before I touch anything. 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.
Go to Schoology to turn this in. Submit one PDF. Put your first and last name in the document header. Name the file: FirstName LastName - Assignment Title - YYYY-MM-DD.pdf. If you cannot get in, see Mr. Mendoza. Do not skip the work.
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.
- SubmittedGo to Schoology to turn this in. Submit one PDF. Put your first and last name in the document header. Name the file: FirstName LastName - Assignment Title - YYYY-MM-DD.pdf. If you cannot get in, see Mr. Mendoza. Do not skip the work.
- 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.
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