I noticed a young man walking down the street the other day, iPod cords dangling from his ears, nodding slightly to the music, and I wondered, briefly, if his hearing was ultimately going to be compromised due to the targeted blast of sound.  It made me think back to the many times my generation was told to “Turn that music down!”, and then I remembered a simple science experiment my roommate and two others had performed in college.

Each student was given six clear plastic glasses, six coils of blotter paper, and 12 beans.  The coil of paper was put in the glass so that two beans would be held between it and the side of the glass, which was then filled with water.  The beans were labeled “Rock” and “Bach.”

All six glasses of beans received the exact same amount of sunshine and water on a daily basis.  However, every day, the Rock beans were taken into another room and given an hour of high-volume rock ‘n roll.  The Bach beans were given an hour of quiet classical music.

The results, after a month, were stunning.  The Rock beans were stunted, had few leaves, and had only grown a couple of inches.  The Bach beans, on the other hand, were flourishing, more than twice the height and with many more leaves than their counterparts.  The statement about what high volume rock n’ roll can do was irrefutable.

It was a simple experiment that makes a big impact.  Any family could – and probably should – do this with their children, for fun and for the knowledge.