Sound Waves

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Information
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Type:

Interactive, Lesson Plan, Video

Description:

Students will investigate sounds waves and learn how the amplitude and wavelength of a sound wave relate to pitch and volume.

Subjects:

Education Levels:

Grade 3
Grade 4
Grade 5

Keywords:

sound, sound waves, pitch, volume

Language:

English

Access Privileges:

Public - Available to anyone

License Deed:

Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial

Collections:

None

Update Standards?

4-PS3-2: Next Generation Science Standards

Make observations to provide evidence that energy can be transferred from place to place by sound, light, heat, and electric currents.

4-PS3-4: Next Generation Science Standards

Apply scientific ideas to design, test, and refine a device that converts energy from one form to another.

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I will begin the lesson by introducing sound waves using this video in a whole class setting:

https://www.neok12.com/video/Sound/zX6d5740785f007905650259.htm

Then I will show this Khan Academy video to introduce amplitude, wavelength, and frequency. This video is meant for older students so some of these concepts will be difficult for a fourth grader to understand so we will have a class disscussion afterwards to clear up any confusion: https://www.khanacademy.org/science/ap-physics-1/ap-mechanical-waves-and-sound/introduction-to-sound-waves-ap/v/sound-properties-amplitude-period-frequency-wavelength

Then I will ask the students to think of a way to actually see sound waves. This short video shows sound waves vibrating a glass of water. I will ask students to draw their observations of what happens to the water vibrations as the pitch changes: http://www.watchknowlearn.org/Video.aspx?VideoID=2452

Then I will break the students into small groups sharing one computer per group. The students will experiment with sound using Chrome Music Lab:

https://musiclab.chromeexperiments.com/Experiments

As groups are exploring Chrome Music Lab, they will each take a turn at the Make a Model Eardrum station where I will have all supplies set out. They will read the steps found here and create a model ear drum: https://www.sciencefriday.com/educational-resources/make-a-model-eardrum-to-detect-sound-waves/

To assess what the students have learned, I will ask them to work in small groups to create an instrument out of recyclable materials. When they present the new instrument to the class, they will also have to change the pitch and the volume and explain why it got louder/softer and a higher/lower pitch.