Photo by V. Miller

April 6, 2005

Earplugs and Noise

More Than Meets the Ear
Celine Michelle Saucier, 14, Midland, Mich.
National Park Service Explorer Team Award, Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge, 2004

Project background: Celine's parents always tell her to wear earplugs while mowing the lawn. She wanted to find how much earplugs diminish noise.

Tactics and results: Celine built a model ear made from ceiling acoustical tiles. She drilled a hole through the tiles (to model the inner ear) and attached a funnel to the outside (to model the outer ear). She attached a sound level meter to the back of the unit. She then tested several commercial earplugs. She also designed her own earplugs, attaching plastic, metal, or zinc caps to the ends of foam and rubber earplugs.

Photo by V. Miller

Her designs blocked more sound than the commercial earplugs, leading Celine to file several patent applications.

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