How is the lateral line of a fish similar to the ears of a human? (Check all that apply.)A) Cilia embedded in a gelatinous matrixB) CochleaC) Hair cellsD) Large external structures for capturing pressure wavesE) Line of cells extends along length of the bodyF) Organ of CortiG) Pressure wavesH) Sensory neuronsJ) Several kinocilia and one stereociliumK) Several stereocilia and one kinocilium

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

A, C, G, H, K

Clarify Question
• What is the key concept addressed by the question?
        Similarities between the ear and the lateral line.
• What type of thinking is required?
        This is an analyze question because you have to break the inner ear and the lateral line system into its separate components in order to look for commonalities.

Gather Content
• What do you already know about the lateral line and inner ear? What other information is related to the question?
        o You already know that the inner ear of humans detect pressure waves of sound in the air and the lateral line of fishes detect pressure waves in the water. Both systems have sensory hair cells that convert mechanical movement into a neural signal. In both systems the mechanical movement is transferred from the surrounding environment via a gelatinous membrane (the cupula in the lateral line and the tectorial membrane in the cochlea). Sensory hair cells have one longer kinocilium and multiple, shorter stereocilia. When these cilia bend, it opens up ion channels that depolarize the cell. This signal is then sent to the sensory neurons of the auditory or lateral line nerves and then processed by the brain.

Choose Answer
• Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?
        o Both the lateral line and inner ear have sensory hair cell stereocilia that are embedded in a gelatinous matrix (the cupula in the lateral line and the tectorial membrane in the inner ear). These hair cells have one kinocilia and multiple stereocilia. These hair cells are innervated by sensory neurons in both systems. While mammals have a cochlea and an organ of Corti in the middle of it, fish do not. Similarly, while mammals have large external structures for capturing pressure waves (i.e., like pinna of the external ear), fish do not have external ears. Fish, on the other hand, have a lateral line system along the length of their body to detect vibrations and pressure waves in the water, while mammals have no need for such a system since they detect pressure waves in the air which vibrate the tympanum.

Reflect on Process
• Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result?
        o Answering this question correctly depended upon your ability to pick out similarities and differences between the inner ears of humans and the lateral line of fishes. If you answered incorrectly, what went wrong? Did you remember that both systems have sensory hair cells that are mechanotransducers that convert a vibratory signal into a neural one? Did you think that since the cochlea and organ of Corti are part of the inner ear, and you knew that fish had inner ears, that fish also have these structures? Did you realize that both the cupula of the lateral line system and the tectorial membrane of the cochlea are gelatinous membranes?