Great Guitars! SKILLS/OBJECTIVES o To understand how sound is created o To understand frequency and its relationship to wave shape o To make guitars

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Vivian Kelly
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1 Great Guitars! FRAMEWORK I. Scientific and Engineering Practices 4 II. Crss-Cutting Cncepts 2 III. Disciplinary Cre Ideas PS 1, PS 2, ETS 2 SKILLS/OBJECTIVES T understand hw sund is created T understand frequency and its relatinship t wave shape T make guitars MATERIALS slinkies tuning frks f different pitches Bucket f water Ping png ball attached t a string Small cardbard bxes (half a Pi sandwich bx) 80 Rubber bands NOTES The slinky and tuning frk activities can be dne in a large grup, in small grups, r in statins

BACKGROUND Wesleyan wants t make a band, but we need instruments t play. We need yur help t make musical instruments! First, we need t knw a little bit abut sund. What d yu knw abut sund?

2 BACKGROUND Wesleyan wants t make a band, but we need instruments t play. We need yur help t make musical instruments! First, we need t knw a little bit abut sund. What d yu knw abut sund? Sund cmes frm sund waves vibratins in the air that get absrbed by yur ear. Instruments use different materials t vibrate the air. Can yu name sme instruments? What d they use that makes the air vibrate? (String instruments like guitar, vilin, and pian use strings; wind instruments like trumpet and flute use lips; reed instruments like clarinet and be use reeds; percussin like drums use the drum head.) Sund terms: Pitch hw high r lw a nte is. This can be heard by playing 2 different tuning frks t cmpare pitches. Pitch depends n the wave frequency hw fast r slw the waves are. Ludness hw lud r sft a nte is (play the same tuning frk hitting it hard the first time (lud) and sft the secnd time (quiet)). Ludness depends n wave amplitude hw high up the wave ges n a graph. Nte: dn t need t g int graphs f waves (ie. frequency and amplitude), but make sure they can differentiate pitch and ludness. Activity # 1 Materials Wrksheet Wave Dance -kids and their bdies n Have kids stand up in a circle hlding hands Have the leader raise ne arm and then the ther, and have the students pass the wave arund the circle. This is a lw frequency wave. What kind f nte des it make? (lw nte) Have the leader send multiple waves arund the circle at the same time. This is a high frequency wave. What kind f nte des it make? (high nte)

3 Activity # 2 Slinky Demnstratin Materials Slinkies Wrksheet n Pass ut 1 slinky fr every pair f children. Have children each hld ne end f the slinky and wave it up and dwn t make a wave. Have the children make a lw pitched wave (lw frequency). Have the children make a high pitched wave (high frequency). Ask them t describe the differences between the waves. What d they have t d differently t make different pitches f waves? Activity # 3 Tuning Frk Demnstratin Materials Tuning frks f different pitches Bucket f water Ping png ball attached t a string Wrksheet n Hld the string f the ping png ball. Hit the tuning frk and tuch it lightly against the ping png ball. The ping png ball shuld bunce, shwing the vibratin f the sund wave. Try this with different pitches f tuning frks t see hw the buncing changes. Hit the tuning frk and put the frk end int a bucket f water. The water shuld make ripples, shwing the vibratin f the sund wave. Again, try with tuning frks f different pitches t see hw the ripples change. Activity # 4 Making Guitars Materials Half f a Pi sandwhich bx (r any small cardbard bx) Rubber bands Wrksheet yes Pass ut a sandwich bx and 4 rubber bands t each student. Have children place the rubber bands arund the bx such that they crss the pening f the bx. Have children pluck the rubber bands ne at a time. Which rubber bands prduce high pitches? Which prduce lw pitches?

4 Have children stretch ut the rubber bands and pluck them again. Hw d the pitches change? Based n their bservatins, have them arrange the rubber bands frm highest t lwest. Nw they have a guitar they can play Fill ut the assciated wrksheet Cnclusin Sund is made f pressure waves When yu speak r pluck an instrument, yu make a vibratin in the air That s why all instruments need a cmpnent that vibrates. Guitars and pians have strings, clarinets and saxphnes have reeds, and tubas and trumpets have yur lips! There can be n sund where there is n air t vibrate. That s why there isn t sund in space! The mlecules are t far apart t effectively pass alng the vibratin. If sund waves are just pressure waves, is it pssible t make sund in water? Hw abut in a slid bject? In which state, gas, liquid r slid, d yu think sund travels fastest?

Circle the sund wave that yu think prduces a higher sund. Nw let s make ur guitars! 1. Place 4 rubber bands arund yur bx s they g acrss the pen side. 2.

5 Name: Great Guitars! Tday we will be making ur wn guitars! But first, we need t understand sund. Sund cmes frm sund waves vibratins in the air. Belw are pictures f tw sund waves. The pitch (hw high r lw a sund is) is based n hw fast the sund waves are. Faster sund waves prduce higher sunds. Circle the sund wave that yu think prduces a higher sund. Nw let s make ur guitars! 1. Place 4 rubber bands arund yur bx s they g acrss the pen side. 2. Pluck each rubber band ne at a time with yur finger t play a nte. 3. Nw test the different rubber bands n yur guitar! Thin rubber band Thick rubber band Lse rubber band Tight rubber band High pitch Lw pitch

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