Sound Activities5th Grade January

Activity Helper Tasks:

During the presentation, set up stations as noted below. Review the activity to understand the goal and prompt student learning. Rotate stations about every 5-8 minutes.

STATION ONE WILL BE RUN BY ELAINE TURNER FROM AMAZING EARTH

Station 1: See, Hear and Feel the VibrationsBy using a tone generator to adjust frequency ranges and an amplifier to gradually adjust the volume, students can experiment with sound.

Materials Needed: Subwoofer speaker and amplifier box (do not remove from the box) 8 Marbles

Set Up: Plug in amplifier to the wall outlet Plug the jack into the laptop Turn amp volume to zero and turn on the amp Click the online tone generator link - https://www.szynalski.com Adjust the tone generator to 0 Hz

Updated 1/15/20

This Experiment will be run by Amazing Earth/Elaine Turner:

SAY: Sine wave vs compression waveSpeakers push and pull surrounding air molecules in waves that the human ear hears as sound.

SAY: Expensive equipment, so let’s gently touch the speaker on the cone portion (not the dust cap in the center).

Start at 0/0. Go to 1Hz and then crank the volume up pretty high so the movement is easy to see.

SAY: Who remembers what frequency is? Or what measurement we use for frequency?Frequency is measured in cycles per second, one hertz equals one cycle per second.

SAY: The rise and fall moves the air and it creates compression waves. But we can’t hear it right?

SAY: Who remembers at what level of hertz can a human hear?

Manually slide to adjust frequency up to 20Hz. Turn the volume down also, it gets uncomfortably loud.

SAY: Let’s test out the vibrations using these marbles. Each take one a place it in the speaker. I’m going to increase the frequency

Then use the x2 to move through 40, 80, 160, 320, etc... or use the slider, either way

Marbles will keep bouncing around until you get to ~150/200Hz or so.

SAY: In the low hundreds you can still see/feel the speaker cone move. In the upper hundreds/low thousands you can hear but not see or feel it (except as maybe a little buzz)

Then after that go back to about 40 and let them watch the marbles bounce. For that part I play with the volume up and down

Updated 1/15/20

Station 2: Tune InStudents experiment with tuning forks to see and hear the results of vibrations.

Materials Needed: 7 tuning forks 4 paper clips 2 pieces of paper 2 plastic lids or plastic cups 2 small glass jars 2 clear plastic cups to put water in 2 cups covered with saran wrap Pepper 2 ping pong balls on a string

Set Up: Based on group size, set up at one table or divide into two tables. Sprinkle some pepper on the cups with saran wrap. Fill the clear plastic cups about 2/3 with water.

Experiment: Read through the 4 experiments below and then let the students begin experimenting.

A sound from a vibrating fork isn’t audible but you can increase the amplitude by touching one of the tines to a surface. Try out different surfaces like metal, plastic, paper and glass.

See what effect the vibrations have on air molecules by holding the tuning fork closely over the pepper.

Dip a vibrating fork in a cup of water. This splash pattern in water is similar to what happens in the air with sound bouncing off in all directions.

What effect do the vibrations have when you lightly touch a suspended ping pong ball?

Station 3: Make a Harmonica

Updated 1/15/20

Each student makes their own personal harmonica to take home/keep.

Materials needed for each student: 2 large craft sticks 2 small rainbow loom rubber bands 1 wide rubber band 2 straw pieces (1-1.5” long) Instruction print outs

1) Stretch wide rubber band lengthwise around one of the craft sticks.2) Place one straw piece UNDER the rubber band.3) Place the other craft stick on top.4) Attach one rainbow loom rubber band on the end with the straw, at the tip of the stick. 5) Put the second straw piece on the other end ON TOP of the wide rubber band. 6) This

IMPORTANT: Make sure one straw goes ON TOP of the rubber band and one goes UNDERNEATH.

Side Angle View

After Making the Harmonica:Student writes their name on the harmonica.

Students put their mouth in the middle and blow through the sticks, not the straws. Encourage them to try to make different sounds by experimenting with the ideas below.

Discussion Points/Connections:What happens if you:

1) slide the straws closer and farther apart2) blow harder or softer3) change the shape of your mouth

Updated 1/15/20

Note: Please place all supplies back in the appropriate bag/box together with the presentation document, activity instructions and server log-in instructions. Thank you!

Updated 1/15/20