Deep inside your ear are tiny cells with bundles of "hairs" on top. When sound reaches them, the bundles bend, and that's how you hear!
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Hearing hair cells live deep in your inner ear, inside a snail-shaped tube called the cochlea (say KOK-lee-uh).
On top of each cell is a bundle of stiff little rods lined up like stairs, from short to tall. They are not real hairs like the ones on your head, but they look a bit like hair.
Each ear has only about 15,000 of these hair cells. That's not many, so they are very precious!
Hair cells at one end of the cochlea pick up high sounds. Hair cells at the other end pick up low sounds.
Scroll up to the 3D model and press Play a sound, then Send to brain.
Hum a song with your fingers resting gently on your throat. Feel the buzz? Sound is shaking, or vibration!
Very loud noise can damage hair cells. In people, they don't grow back. That's why protecting your ears matters.
Some birds can grow new hair cells after theirs get damaged. Scientists are studying how they do it.
By Peekaboo Kidz. A fun video for kids.
Watch on YouTube →