The Sensory System

Question 1

What are the five senses?

Answer 1

• Sight
• Hearing
• Touch
• Taste
• Smell

Question 2

What is a receptor?

Answer 2

A cell that detests a stimulus.

Question 3

What stimulus does the eye detect? and how?

Answer 3

It detects light from rods and cones in the retina.

Question 4

What stimulus does the ear detect? and how?

Answer 4

It detects sounds from receptors in the cochlea.

Question 5

What stimulus does the skin detect? and how?

Answer 5

It detects Temp, pressure and pain from receptors throughout the body.

Question 6

What stimulus does the tongue detect? and how?

Answer 6

It detects chemicals from the taste buds.

Question 7

What stimulus does the nose detect? and how?

Answer 7

It detects chemicals from receptors in the nasal cavity.

Question 8

What do the eyelids do?

Answer 8

They cover and protect the eyes.

Question 9

What is the conjunctiva?

Answer 9

It’s a thin transparent lining that protects the cornea.

Question 10

What is the cornea and what does it do?

Answer 10

It’s the front transparent part of the sclera which focuses light on the retina.

Question 11

What is the sclera?

Answer 11

It is the tough fibrous outer layer which maintains the shape of the eyeball (the white part of your eye).

Question 12

What does the choroid do?

Answer 12

It contains blood vessels that supply food and oxygen to the cells of the eye.

Question 13

What is the retina?

Answer 13

It’s the innermost layer that contains all of the receptor cells (rods and cones).

Question 14

What’s the fovea?

Answer 14

It’s the place where are best vision is (mainly cones).

Question 15

What part of the eye is specialised into another?

Answer 15

The front region of the choroid is specialised into the iris.

Question 16

What does the Iris contain and what does it do?

Answer 16

It contains blood vessels and melanin (our eye colour) and it controls the amount of light that enters our eye through the pupil.

Question 17

How does the pupil control light intake in the eye?

Answer 17

In bright light, it contracts. In dim light, it dilates.

Question 18

What is the ciliary body (muscle)?

Answer 18

It is the thickened edge of the choroid that controls the shape of the lens.

Question 19

What do the suspensory ligaments do?

Answer 19

Holds the lens in place.

Question 20

What does the lens do?

Answer 20

It focuses light onto the retina like a magnifying glass.

Question 21

What is accommodation?

Answer 21

Is the ability of the lens to change its shape (focal length) to form a clear image.

Question 22

What is aqueous humour?

Answer 22

It is the watery liquid that supplies the lens and cornea with nutrients and helps keep the structure of them.

Question 23

What is vitreous humour?

Answer 23

The gel that helps maintain the shape of the eye.

Question 24

What is a blind spot?

Answer 24

It’s where the optic nerve fibres pass through the retina and there is no room for receptors.

Question 25

How does your eye see something that’s in the distance?

Answer 25

The ciliary muscle relaxes and the suspensory ligaments pull tight.

Question 26

How does your eye see something that’s close?

Answer 26

The ciliary muscle contracts, allowing for the lens to be thicker.

Question 27

How do you treat being long-sighted?

Answer 27

It is treated by reading glasses with convex lenses.

Question 28

How do you treat being short-sighted?

Answer 28

It is treated by having normal glasses with concave lenses.

Question 29

What is the pinna and what does it do?

Answer 29

It’s the outer visible ear that funnels sound into the ear canal.

Question 30

What is the ear canal and how does it protect against dirt and germs?

Answer 30

It’s the tube leading to the eardrum and it has hair and wax to trap dirt and germs.

Question 31

What is the eardrum?

Answer 31

It’s a membrane of skin that vibrates when sound waves hit it.

Question 32

What is the middle ear?

Answer 32

It is the region of the ear which is filled with air and contains the ossicles and the Eustachian tube.

Question 33

What are the ossicles?

Answer 33

The three small bones that amplify the sound. These are, the hammer, anvil and stirrup.

Question 34

What does the eustachian tube do?

Answer 34

It keeps the air pressure equal on each side of the eardrum (It opens when we swallow, cough etc.).

Question 35

What’s the inner ear?

Answer 35

It’s a region of the ear that contains a coiled, fluid filled tube called the cochlea and the semi-circular canals.

Question 36

What does the cochlea do?

Answer 36

It converts the sound vibrations into impulses by nerves.

Question 37

What do the semi-circular canals do?

Answer 37

They help keep balance and posture.

Question 38

What is the oval window?

Answer 38

It’s the part that connects the middle ear to the inner ear. (Where the stirrup meats the cochlea).

Question 39

How does our brain respond when our semi-circular canals detect a change?

Answer 39

The brain responds by sending messages through the cerebellum which triggers the reflex muscles in our body.

Question 40

Give one thing that may result in deafness.

Answer 40

• High levels of noise
• Drugs
• Ear infections

Question 41

What level of noise can cause immediate hearing damage?

Answer 41

140 dB.