Blank ear diagrams and quizzes: The fastest way to learn ear anatomy

Ear anatomy overview

Although it’s not obvious to look at, the ear is anatomically divided into three portions:

• External (outer) ear
  
• Middle ear
• Inner ear

As you can imagine, there’s a lot of associated anatomy to learn for each portion! With that in mind, this article will focus on learning the anatomy of the external (outer) ear. But don’t worry - with our interactive ear anatomy quizzes and videos, you’ll have ample opportunity to study all of the structures of the ear in time. For now, let’s explore the anatomy of the external ear in more detail. 

There are two components to the outer ear - the bony segment known as the external acoustic meatus, and a cartilaginous portion, called the pinna or auricle. This latter component is the point at which sound wave modification commences, channeling sound waves into the external auditory canal through the peaks and valleys of structures before it.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg! If it’s in your exam, you’ll need to learn this topic in detail. The video below will give you a great overview of the structures of the external ear and their functions.

After watching the video, it’s time to begin revising. For this, we’ll be testing your ability to label the ear. Get ready!

Ear diagrams (labeled and unlabeled)

Take a moment to look at the ear model labeled above. This shows you all of the structures you’ve just learned about in the video, labeled on one diagram. Seeing them all together in this way is a great way to learn, since anatomical structures do not exist in isolation. That’s why labeling the ear is an effective way to begin your revision. It helps you to memorize the names and their locations, which in turn will aid you to remember their functions.

Below, you can download both the blank ear diagram to make some notes, and then try labeling the ear using the unlabeled ear diagram. Good luck!

DOWNLOAD PDF WORKSHEET (BLANK)DOWNLOAD PDF WORKSHEET (LABELED)

Accelerate your learning with interactive quizzes

Hopefully you’re now feeling more confident about your ability to identify the structures of the inner ear. But unfortunately, one session of labeling the ear does not an A grade student make. 

That’s why we recommend solidifying your knowledge with our interactive ear anatomy quizzes. You can use these quizzes to revise what you already know, or to learn a topic from scratch. Either way, the important thing is that they allow you to test yourself at regular intervals, maximizing your chance of understanding and memorizing the topic for your exam.

Intrigued? Get started with a quiz on the ear!

Expand and test your knowledge with our additional learning materials on the following topics.

Love learning anatomy with quizzes and labeling exercises? Explore our full collection of free anatomy quiz guides.