Page 71 - SST Class 05

Presently, digital thermometers are commonly used. They tell the temperature in
digits. They are easier to read.

Do a Practical!

Hold a digital thermometer’s bulb between your bulb bulb
forefinger and thumb and observe its display. Does
it show the increasing numbers? Ask your
teacher/father what it means. Thermometer A digital thermometer

Stethoscope

If ever you visit a hospital, you can find doctors going about
with the stethoscope round their necks. A stethoscope is very
useful for a doctor. She can listen to the sounds of heartbeat,
lungs and other organs located inside the body. It helps her
understand how different body organs are working. This helps
her understand a disease and its seriousness. There is an A doctor with a stethoscope

interesting story how the stethoscope was invented.
Once in France in 1816, a doctor named Rene Laennec was going to his clinic. On the
way, he spotted two children at each end of a hollow log. He stopped for a while to
look at them. One of the children whispered at one end and the other on the other end

could listen to the sound clearly. The doctor was amazed at this, he had never played
this game in his childhood. He did it himself and was wonderstruck. It was like a new
revelation for him. He thought more about this.

Upon reaching his clinic, Laennec called the first patient in, rolled a newspaper and
put it on his chest. To his surprise, he found that he could listen to the sound of the
heart and lungs quite clearly. He worked on this idea. This was how the stethoscope
was invented.

Do a Practical!

Have you played ‘telephone’ made with matchboxes?
Connect two matchboxes with a thread. One child will
speak in one matchbox while the other will listen in the
other one. Can you listen to the sound made by the
other child? Now, put it to your chest. Does it transmit
the sound of the heartbeat too?

Microscope

Have you seen the microscope in your school laboratory? If you put a small thing
under its lens, like a paper pin, you can look at its clear and magnified form through

Advancement in Medical Science 71