A special partnership between theGeorgia Department of Education and the

Educational Technology Training Centers in support of the 8th Grade Physical Science

Frameworks.

Module 4:

Light and Sound Show

Georgia Performance Standards Framework for Physical Science – Grade 8Unit: Light and Sound Show

General Task

The Sound of Music

StandardsContentS8P2. Students will be familiar with the forms and transformations of energy. a. Explain energy transformations in terms of the Law of Conservation of Energy.  S8P4. Students will explore the wave nature of sound and electromagnetic radiation. a. Identify the characteristics of mechanical waves. e. Relate the properties of sound to everyday experiences. f. Diagram the parts of a wave and explain how the parts are affected by changes in amplitude and pitch.

CharacteristicsS8CS5. Students will use the ideas of system, model, change, and scale in exploring scientific and technological matters. a. Observe and explain how parts can be related to other parts in a system such as the role of simple machines in complex machines. b. Understand that different models can be used to represent the same thing. S8CS6. Students will communicate scientific ideas and activities clearly. a. Organize scientific information in appropriate tables, charts, and graphs, and identify relationships they reveal.S8CS9. Students will understand the features of the process of scientific inquiry.Students will apply the following to inquiry learning practices: a. Investigations are conducted for different reasons, which include exploring new phenomena, confirming previous results, testing how well a theory predicts, and comparing different theories. b. Scientific investigations usually involve collecting evidence, reasoning, devising hypotheses, and, formulating explanations to make sense of collected evidence c. Scientific experiments investigate the effect of one variable on another. All other variables are kept constant.

Enduring Understandings

• Wavelength and amplitude determine the characteristics of waves.

• Energy is neither created nor destroyed; it can be changed from one form

to another.

• Waves carry energy.

• Mechanical waves are created when a source of energy causes a medium to

vibrate.

• The pitch of a wave is related to its frequency and its intensity is related to

its amplitude.

Essential QuestionsHow do musical instruments make sounds of

different pitch and intensity?

What is the best way to decide which sounds are

music or noise?

What is the best way to describe the relationship

between pitch and amplitude?

Which way of producing sound--analog or digital--

produces the best listening quality?

quiz

Click the Click the piano to piano to

take a take a music music quiz!quiz!

Make a Guitar!

Remove the cover from the box. Stretch the rubber bands around the box. Attach the ruler or stick to the back of the box on one end to act as the arm of the guitar. To play, strum or pluck the rubber bands.

shoe box rubber bands ruler or stick

Xylophone

How can you make a water glass xylophone that has different pitches?

Make a Flute!

Activity 1

• Definitions of amplitude, frequency, wavelength, trough, crest, rarefaction, compression, intensity, decibel, echo and medium.

• Draw and label a sound wave. • Explain how sound travels • Allow time for students to interact with the site. Then have

students complete the following in their journals. • Draw a sound wave with high and low pitch. Label the

diagrams. • Draw a sound wave with soft strike (low amplitude) and a

hard strike (high amplitude). Label the diagram. • How does the energy you put into producing a sound affect

the wave produced?

Activity 2

• Have students visit the following site. • http://www.frontiernet.net/~imaging/play_a_

piano.html

• Allow time for the students to interact with the site. Have the students complete the following in their science journal:– Draw a sound wave for notes CDEFGAB.– Compare/contrast the waves.

Activity 3

• Have students apply what they have learned about pitch and intensity by creating their own homemade instruments to play a simple tune. Have students share their tunes and then have students explain how different pitches and amplitudes are achieved with their instruments using the language of the standards in their journals.

• This is a website that offers an example of how to play a few tunes. http://www.lhs.berkeley.edu/shockwave/jar.html

Activity 4

• Have students visit the following site to compare the information they have learned about pitch, amplitude and waves formation to a discussion on music verses noise.

• What is music? http://www.fi.edu/fellows/fellow2/apr99/soundvib.html

• Have students explain the difference in noise and music using the language of the standards in their journals.

Activity 5

• In this activity students will have an opportunity to make the content relevant to their own lives in our digital world by using the properties of sound to create/mix their own music/mp3's. Students should be allowed and encouraged to make connections between the content of the lesson (the properties of sound waves) and their own topics (i.e, mp3s for an iPod or music listening device), questions (i.e., What must I learn in order to make my own mp3s?), or information needs (i.e., What is pitch and how will it affect the music I am making?) and their prior knowledge (i.e., What do I already understand about sound?).

Click the piano to visit the website and find definitions for these terms:amplitudefrequencywavelengthtroughcrestrarefactioncompressionmedium

Do you know now?How musical instruments make sounds of

different pitch and intensity?

What is the best way to decide which sounds

are music or noise?

What is the best way to describe the

relationship between pitch and amplitude?

Which way of producing sound--analog or

digital--produces the best listening quality?

What were the “Big Concepts” in each activity?

How will students make sense of these concepts?

Discuss real-world examples that may reinforce students’ understanding.

Homework, accommodations for students with disabilities, gifted students, ELL

What other standards and elements might one introduce at this time to unify the concepts?

What are some common student misconceptions and how can these activities facilitate the student’s proper conception and understanding?

Teacher Reflection