Our science topics for this year include exploration of light and sound, as well as study of our solar system.
The topic that we have started with is sound. We have been exploring sound through use of various materials, and we also used the materials available to us to create a sound code. Soon, we will be exploring the sounds that different instruments make. We will use our observations to learn about the concepts of pitch, volume, and timbre. We will also use instruments as well as a tone generator to discover that sound is made by vibrations.
To wrap up our sound unit, our class will be creating homemade instruments out of recycled materials. They can be percussion, woodwind, or string instruments. The goal of the assignment is to create an instrument that has 3 distinct pitches, and there is a rubric to help the students with their creations.
Here are some links to help with the concepts in our sound unit.
Sound is Energy - a ThinkQuest that will further explain the new concepts we are learning
Sound - This is a great website, filled with information about properties of sound, the ear and how it works, the uses of sound, and echoes. The students will be exploring this website further in class using the laptop computers.