Seeking Sounds in our Neighbourhood

Junior (Age 9 – 12)

Curriculum Goal

Grade 4: Matter and Energy

  • Describe properties of sound, including that sound travels through a medium as a wave and that sound can be absorbed or reflected and modified. 
  • Describe how different objects and materials interact with light and sound energy. 

Junior: STEM Investigation and Communication Skills

  • Use a scientific research process and associated skills to conduct investigations. 
  • Use a scientific experimentation process and associated skills to conduct investigations. 

Context

  • Children have learned about the connection between vibration and sound and will know that sound is a form of energy that travels in waves.  
  • Children have arrived at school via walking, biking, taking the bus, or riding in a car, and so will have different experiences of everyday outdoor sounds to draw on.
  • Learning Goal: Children will Know that sounds travel differently depending on their environment and the materials and surfaces around them, Understand that sound is a form of energy that takes place in a medium, and be able to listen closely to an outdoor environment and pick out different sounds and their sources.
  • Structures and Protocols: Children will be accustomed to sharing their theories and ideas in whole-class discussions and will have experience writing down their scientific observations in journals. Children will have gone on class walks before, but will be reminded of walk protocols along with additional close listening protocols 

Materials

  • Sound journals from previous lesson. 
  • Printed Google maps of the schoolyard or a park close to the school. 
  • Outdoor space like a schoolyard or nearby park. 

Lesson

Introduction (10 minutes) 

  • Lead a class discussion by posing some of these questions to the children. 
    • What do you hear when you are on your way to school?  
    • How many different sounds can you list, and are they man-made or natural sounds?  
    • Are there particular sounds that you do not really notice?  
    • What happens when you listen closely to those sounds?  
    • Emphasize the difference between listening to our voices versus listening to all the background sounds in the classroom right now. 

Lesson (30 minutes) 

  • Tell your children that today you will be exploring the sounds of our schoolyard to see what differences there are between listening to sounds inside the classroom versus outside. 
  • Describe how most of the sounds we hear in the classroom are man-made and can sometimes be heard more clearly than sounds outside because sound waves reflect off the walls of the classroom.  
  • List the sounds you hear inside and note them, as you will write them out and see if your class can find a variety of sounds outside.  
    • Outside, the sound waves have a much wider space to fill and may not have as many surfaces to reflect off, and there are multiple sounds that may compete for our attention.
  • Bring the children outside and show them the printed map of the space. Ask them to create small groups and list the different natural and man-made sounds they can hear outside.  
  • Once they have a list of sounds, they will show you the list and you will help them choose one particular sound.  
    • Ask them to write in their sound journals and be as descriptive as possible about that sound, noting the pitch, intensity, tone, potential source of the sound, and any surfaces or other factors that might change how they hear the sound.
  • Children will then try and map the sound.    
    • What point does it emanate from, and how far do you need to go before you can no longer hear the sound, if possible? 

Conclusion (5 minutes)

  • Gather the children back and ask them to share what they learned in their experiments with sound and mapping.   
  • What further questions do they have about sound and how it interacts with the environment around them?  
  • Were they more attuned to man-made sounds or natural sounds? 

Look Fors

  • What kinds of sounds were the children more attuned to?  
  • How many sounds could they identify in and out of the classroom? 
  • You can conduct a formative assessment by taking anecdotal notes on child participation and discussion during the activity.  
  • You can conduct a summative assessment by looking at the group’s completed page in their sound journals noting the many different sounds in the environment and the different surfaces around them that may impact the travel of sound. 

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