Exploring Sound Energy

Our third grade sound unit it a tough one for eight and nine year olds to wrap their head around, so I try to do an many hands/on minds-on activities. As you can see the students love these activities! The key is to do a lot of activities and discussion. 

Sound Eggs

 The first activity we do is called  "Sound Eggs". This is an activity that uses plastic eggs as a way to try to identify sounds. You need 12 plastic eggs and it is nice to have an egg carton to store the sound eggs. The items I put in the eggs are as follows: a piece of thread, rice, marshmallows, beans, a key, corn, a penny, sand or salt, a tack, a cotton ball, beads, and sugar cubes. i have students work in groups of four and shake the eggs and have them discuss what they think is in each egg. There is a list of items that are in the eggs for the students to use as a way of helping the conversation. We take about 15 minutes discussing the choices and then students record their predictions. After we talk about the predictions we reveal the correct items to the students. The students then answer the following question in writing to assess the learning that took place: 1. Which item was the easiest to identify? Why? 2. What item was the hardest to identify? Why? 3. What is making the sound in each egg? 

Musical Bottles 

The next activity we do is called "Musical Bottles". This takes collecting a lot of bottles that are the same size. You need 5 of the same size for each group, water and food coloring. I had 7 groups of 4 four students. I like having each group having a different set of bottles to help drive home the concept of pitch. The best items I have found are the Snapple Ice Tea, IBC Root Beer, wine vinegar for cooking, small Coke bottles, large Coke Bottles, Lipton Iced Tea in Bottles, Peak iced tea in bottles and I had to buy serving bottles. The bottles need to be clear so the students can see the colors. Fill each bottle with different amounts of water. It varies depending on the size of the bottle. The fist bottle is almost full and you put red food coloring in the water, the second is 3/4 full and I put yellow and red food coloring to make orange. The third bottle has yellow food coloring and it is above half way full, but less then 3/4 full. The fourth bottle is half way full and it is green and the last one is blue and is 1/4 full. Have the students predict which is the highest pitch when they tap the bottle and which has the lowest pitch. After the students make their predictions the students get to tap the bottles, gently! This helps them hear and see the difference in pitches. Once everyone gets a chance we have each groups make a song and share it. The students notice, if each group has a different size bottles, that the pitches are different.

The next day we get the bottles out again and this time we blow into the bottles. The pitches are opposite. I do give each group a Clorox wipe to wipe the bottles after a student blows in it. We follow the same procedure we did the first day. Make predictions first and then try. This is again a great way to see and hear the difference in pitches. If you have time, students love to make up songs and share their songs with the class. Maybe a good Friday activity?!

Sound Thumpers

This is another activity that helps students understand the different pitches. These thumpers were made from the covers of florescent light covers. I bought these at Home Depot and if you give them the measurements, they will cut them for you. It was expensive, but I use them every year. The cost was $120 for 7 sets of the thumpers. This is an activity from AIMS and the link will take you to a place you can preview the activity:http://store.aimsedu.org/aims_store/e-activities/all-e-activities/tune-thumpers.html. The measurements that the tubes need to be cut are in the preview. The students again predict which one is the highest and lowest pitch. Then the students get to test everything. If you buy the AIMS activity it gives you the cards that play "Mary had a Little Lamb" or I have found students like to make up their own songs. 

Pitch Versus Volume

Once we have studied pitch quite a bit we then move into volume. Students confuse these two concepts. I have found the best way is to buy each student a kazoo that is the same size. The students blow in them and discover that these are the same pitch. The students blow louder and softer to see what changes. Students discover that the more energy put into the kazoo the louder it gets. We then use clapping our hands to demonstrate this again. The last activity to help drive home the pitch is the same, just the volume increases it to buy "Sound Tubes", which can be found at the dollar store. These are the same pitch, so the more energy you put into spinning the sound tube, the louder the sound. The pitch does not change! Students will argue that the pitch gets higher, so this needs to be done several times! 

Sound Travels in Waves

You will need a Slinky for each group. I have groups of 4. We use the Slinky to show how sound waves travel. We have the students stand close together and then far apart and we talk about how different the sound travels. We also talk about what an echo is and show the echo with the Slinky. To understand how sound travels students need to know the phases of matter and how the molecules are arranged differently. We play a game I call the Phases of Matter Game. There are 5 stages of matter and I show the students this, but we just focus on solids, liquids, and gases. We have the students stand up and get really close together to show how molecules are packed in a solid, then we have the students stand arms length away and they become a liquid. For gas molecules I have the students run, yes run, and stay far apart from each other. Once we practice this I shout out a phase of matter and the students get in that arrangement. Then I have one student act like they are a sound wave and bump into the students. Students see that in a solid the wave bounces quickly off other students. The last activity I use to drive home that sound travels in waves and travels best in a solid is to line up about 10 tennis balls on the chalk ledge. Then line them up as a solid, liquid and gas. In each arrangement I have sound waves bump into the balls showing how fast the wave makes it through the solid.

 

 Glow Sticks and Sound Waves
To show sound travels in waves you can take a glow stick and place it in a loop at the bottom of the jar. Place 2 on the table and have one with a little bit of water and the second with a lot of water. Make sure the room is as dark as you can get it. When the students tap the jars you can see the waves in the water with the glow stick. It is pretty cool and it is easy to do...also cheap! I saved my jars from sauces I use at home and the glow sticks are 15 for one dollar at Target! 



The finale...Making our own instruments.

To end the unit we take what we have learned to make an instrument that makes a sound and had at least 2 different pitches. I save trash, toilet paper rolls, plastic containers, boxes, oatmeal and anything else people send in for about 2 months prior to the unit. You do need a lot so the students have a lot to choose from. I do buy rubber bands, corn, beans, fishing line, tape, glue,  paper clips and balloons so the students do have things they can make vibrate to make the sounds. Students have to draw up a plan. Once the students have the plan, they assess what we have as supplies and make a list of items they may need to bring from home. Students also talk to a partner about their idea so another person can give their input. I would highly suggest you do this on a Friday! After the students create their instrument, they must play it for the class and identify the sound sources and the different pitches their instrument makes. It is a great performance assessment and you can see what the students grasped from the unit activities. It is messy, but so worth it!

There are some sources we use that help us that are on line. One resource is Brain Pop, but you do have to pay for this service,. If you do have Brain Pop, there is a great video and vocabulary ship for sound! A free source that we use is called Study Jams http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/science/energy-light-sound/sound.htm . You tube has a video of the Blue Man Group that shows them changing the pitch of their instrument that we use to show the changed in sound http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLjxV9q_KAg&list=FLh63FucP2hCQtngCb5eNbog.  There are also several on-line games my students play that I have on my class Wiki http://alford300.pbworks.com/w/page/1736925/Science. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about these activities in our sound unit. You can contact me from this  link: http://kalford.weebly.com/. Best of luck to you and your students!