Sound

TOPIC ONE: OBJECTS THAT MAKE SOUND

• Students will demonstrate that they understand sounds that certain objects make by identifying objects by the sounds that they make.
• Students will demonstrate an understanding of how sound technologies help meet our everyday needs by describing examples of such and how they impact our daily routines.

ACTIVITIES:

• Have students stop what they are doing, be quiet, and listen. After a minute, ask them to explain what is making the sounds that they hear.
• Ask the students to take out paper and pencil and write down at least three sounds they have heard.
• Have the students share the sounds and list them on the board.
• Take students outside. Find a nice place to have a seat. (Maybe a wooded area if possible) Ask everyone to be quiet and listen.  Ask them to write down everything that they hear. Go back to class and compare the sounds that everyone heard. Did everyone hear the same things?
• Identify objects by the sounds they make when shaken in a container.
• Play recorded sounds to students and ask them to identify what the sound is.
• Describe a scenario telling students that they are lost somewhere and have no idea where they are at. Ask them to imagine that it is pitch dark and they can not see anything around them.  They do, however have a cell phone and are able to call someone to try and describe where they are. Play a series of pre-recorded noises and have students try to guess where they are by piecing together the noises they are hearing. Be sure to include noises that could be heard in more than one spot as well as some unique noises that could narrow down where they are.
• Ask students to pretend that they live in the past and do not have many of the sound technologies that we have today. Ask them to explain how their lives would be different if we did not have radios, televisions, alarms, etc.

Materials

• CD player or a computer
  Milk carton or plastic tub
• Paper clips, pennies, small pencil erasers etc.
• Paper
• Pencils

Assessment:

Ask students to describe three sounds that tell you to do something and three sounds that tell you something is going to happen.

Have students design posters that illustrate an important sound (like a fire alarm) and write a short paragraph about why it is important.

Have the students take a few minutes at home to listen carefully to the sounds around them and then make a list. Ask them to use their lists to make charts of the sounds they heard, classifying the sounds under three headings: machines, living things, other sounds.

Create a poem describing sounds they like and those they do not like.

Begin a portfolio of the work students are doing related to sound.