Sunday, April 10, 2011
Vibration and Sound Experiment
I recently conducted a lesson on Vibration and Sound with my class. The students were asked to use a ruler and decide how to make a low pitch and high pitch. At first my students thought that flicking the ruler in different ways would cause the pitch to change. They soon found that they had to move the ruler using different lengths that hang off of the table to produce the different pitches. They then used this knowledge to play "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" with their ruler. It was a very fun and educational experiment. My students were engaged and exited during the entire experiment. The only struggle that my students had was getting started on their song. I think next time I will get them started with the first two notes so that do not get as frustrated and confused in the beginning. Here are some of their data sheets that they completed during the lesson.
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This seems like a very engaging lesson. I bet the students loved it and will remember what they learned about vibration and sound. I know you said they were confused in the beginning, but I think you did the right thing by having them test the ruler until they came up with the right way to change the notes. This is what scientific inquiry is all about, problem solving until students come up with a possible answer. The process of finding the solution is the hard part. What grade do you teach?
ReplyDeleteI teach second grade. That is why I think it would have helped them if I would have given them the first two notes of the song. If I had modeled how to determine the correct sound it may have helped with the confusion. Otherwise, the students did a great job, and they loved this experiment.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea, and this definitely fits the idea of a science inquiry lesson.
ReplyDeleteI will piggy-back off the confusion comment that was made, I think you did the right thing by allowing them to explore with the material and try to figure out how to make the ruler change the pitch of the sound. This gave them more responsibility and freedom in their learning, which is exactly what I would want in a science classroom. I am sure you saw some great interactions, questions, and responses from the students as they worked through this lesson and at the end they were really excited at what they were able to do. Did any of them want to go home to show their parents what they could do? I bet there had to be a few of them. Thanks for sharing!
I love the idea! I will looks at ways I could use this with my junior high students!
ReplyDeleteThanks
Wow, great idea. I've used the ruler before for sound but never thought of playing a song with it. I hope you don't mind, but I plan to steal this lesson!
ReplyDeleteIf you are interested in having this type of machine, you should think about how you plan on using the countertop. Best marble run is important to remember that you do not want the machine to be too large for the area you need to use it in.
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