Unit: Sound Ohio Learning Standards for Science Some objects and materials can be made to vibrate to produce sound. Sound is produced by touching, blowing or tapping objects. The sounds that are produced vary depending on the properties of objects. Sound is produced when objects vibrate. Content Elaborations: Sound can be made in many ways. Objects like cymbals, the tabletop or drums can be tapped to produce sound. Objects like a rubber band or a guitar string can be plucked to produce sound. Objects like a bottle or a trumpet can be blown into to produce sound. A wide variety of sounds can be made with the same object (e.g., a plastic bottle could be tapped or blown into). The connection between sound energy and the vibration of an object must be made. Vibrations can be made visible when water splashes from a cymbal or triangle placed in water or rice vibrates on the top of a banging drum. The concepts of pitch (low vs. high notes) and loudness are introduced. The pitch of sound varies by changing how fast an object vibrates. Objects that vibrate slowly produce low pitches; objects that vibrate quickly produce high pitches. Sound must be experienced, investigated and explored through observations and experimentation. Standard, virtual and student-constructed instruments must be used to explore sound. Classroom Resources: Observation Table: Musical instruments and objects that make sound Learning Wall: Vibrations make sounds. Sentence strip with: I can to make a sound. Cards with: tap, pluck, blow, rub, and shake. Photos of instruments (from Musical Instruments Center) Centers / Observation Table Part One: (Two weeks) Vibrations make sounds. Five ways to make music (tap, pluck, blow, rub, and shake) Observation Table; Instruments You Rub Instruments You Shake Instruments You Tap Instruments You Pluck Centers: I Could Make Sounds Musical Instruments Rock and Roll Part Two: (Two weeks) Sound Comparisons Different widths and tightness of rubber bands affect pitch The longer a pipe, the lower the pitch. Centers: Egg Match Up Rubber Band Music Straw Music Palm Pipes
Let s Go! Session One : This unit is divided into two sessions. In part one, students discover that vibrations make sound. Standards: Some objects and materials can be made to vibrate to produce sound. Processes: Investigating, Observing Cognitive Demands: Demonstrating Science Knowledge Engage: Give students combs and waxed paper. As kids blow on the waxed paper they will feel the vibrations. Introduce that when you hear a sound, vibrations are happening. Explore: Observation table: Students explore the observation table and how sounds can be made other than by blowing. Explain: Read the book Vibrations Make Sound. Discuss vibrations means something going up and down. You can demonstrate a vibration by holding a ruler out from the end of a desk and plucking it. Ask the students to predict what would happen if you hold the ruler out a shorter distance? (In the Center I Can Make Sounds rulers and craft sticks are provided so students can explore this phenomenon for themselves.) Extend: Read Thundercake and discuss how some sounds are loud and some sounds are soft. Materials: Thundercake Vibrations Make Sound Notes: The Observation Table is introduced as a place for exploration. Musical instruments that make sounds by plucking, tapping, shaking and rubbing are displayed and ready to be explored. Vocabulary vibration loud soft pitch sound vibrate high low tap pluck shake blow rub
Standard: Some objects and materials can be made to vibrate to produce sound. Science Processes: Observing, investigating I Can Make Sounds Center Overview Students look at everyday items and explore how they can make vibrations and sound. The Sound of Silence - Students may examine these everyday items without thinking of how they could be used to make sound. Prompt students to think about the five methods of shake, tap, rub, pluck, and blow. A ruler extended over the edge of a desk can be plucked to see a vibration. Measuring spoons when tapped create different pitches. Running an item along the teeth of a comb creates sound. Rub an item over the sandpaper at different speeds to generate sounds. Students explore the sounds different cylinders make when rolled on different surfaces. Rock and Roll Center Overview to support the directions - This center demonstrates how rubbing cylinders across different materials can create sounds and how items with similar shapes can make different pitches. Encourage students to roll the items over the materials at different speeds. Discuss what is vibrating. Oscar and the Bat: A Book about Sound
Musical Instruments Center Overview Students sort musical instruments (photos) by the different ways they make sound. I Love Music: My First Sound Book Maria and the Sound of the Trumpet - Students sort musical instruments on how they make sound (pluck, tap, blow, shake, or rub). Ask students to determine what is vibrating. Note that sometimes what is vibrating is air. (flute, recorder, etc.) - Adding noisemakers, instruments, and toys that make music allows students to explore how these items vibrate and provide a concrete example of sounds. - Process cards (i.e. match, compare and observe ) can be added to centers to support the directions. In Session One, students discover that sounds are produced when something vibrates. In Session Two, students discover that sounds produced vary depending on the properties of objects. Sounds may be loud, soft, high, or low.
Sounds Vary Session Two : In part one, students discovered that vibrations make sound. In part two, students discover that sounds can be loud or soft, or high or low. The loudness can be affected by the amount of energy used. Pitch can vary due to the properties of the objects. Pipes and straws will vary in length. Eggs will vary by their contents. Rubber bands will vary on their lengths and tightness. Standards: Some objects and materials can be made to vibrate to produce sound. Processes: Investigating, Looking for Patterns, Observing Cognitive Demands: Demonstrating Science Knowledge Engage: Show students some of the musical instruments and review how vibrations were made. Today they will make their own vibrations. Explore: Give pairs of students a set of rubber bands and one container. Show the students how to stretch a rubber band over the container to see a vibration. Ask students to compare with others to see if all of the sounds made sounded the same. Explain: Share with students that in this group of centers they will explore how sounds can be loud, soft, high, and low. Encourage students to look for patterns. Extend: Students can predict how sounds changes on a toy xylophone. How would you make a loud sound? Low sound? High sound? Soft sound? Vocabulary Materials: An assortment of rubber bands An assortment of containers. loud soft pitch sound vibrate high low tap pluck shake blow rub
Standard: Some objects and materials can be made to vibrate to produce sound. Science Processes: Observing, investigating Egg Match Up Center Overview Students shake plastic eggs and by the sound infer what is inside the eggs. Sounds of the Wild Nighttime - The center can be differentiated for students by using less eggs or more eggs. If teachers wish to make additional eggs, make sure that the matching eggs are not the same colors so that students are comparing sounds and not matching eggs based on color. - The center can also contain a list of the items and the students can be challenged to match the sounds with the items. Rubber Band Music Center Overview Students use different size containers and rubber bands to make sounds with varying pitches. Sounds All Around - As in the introductory activity, students will see how different rubber bands in different containers vary. At the center there will be a variety of boxes, tubs and rubber bands to explore. Direct students to look for strategies to make different sounds and to look for patterns. to support the directions.
Straw Music Center Overview Students experiment with straws of different lengths to observe the differences in pitch. Sound: Loud, Soft, High and Low All About Sound - Students need their own individual bag of straws. -Students may try to blow into the straws rather than over the straws. How to make sound with the straws may need to be demonstrated. Palm Pipes Center Overview Students tap different sizes of palm pipes to see how pitch varies with length. - Demonstrate that in this center, students are not blowing into pipes, but rather tapping the pipes onto their palms. Encourage students to look for patterns as they try different pipes. The Sound of Day / The Sound of Night