Sound Challenges

I realize we've been done with our Sound unit for weeks... but the kids loved the unit and I thought I'd share some of the work we did.

Visiting Ms. Streit's classroom to see oobleck "dance" from the vibrations of the song through the amp.

The lower the pitch, the faster the oobleck danced... until it jumped right off the amp!

This unit involved lots of hands-on experiments. The kids tested how well sound vibrations moved through solids, liquids, and the air. We tested with high and low pitches by changing the length and tension of the instruments. We also tested with loud and soft volumes using megaphones (not my favorite day).

To wrap up the unit, the students wrote a Sound and Light Magazine. This summarized their research and practiced using nonfiction text features. They also completed Sound Challenges, combining the investigations throughout the unit to solve a problem.

Rube Goldberg

What do you get when you combine lots of trash/recyclables, a buzzer, and small groups? Chaos, noise, and a Rube Goldberg machine that worked... well, sort of!

For two weeks, the class reviewed simple machines and did Rube Goldberg practice challenges.

 

Then it was time to get into small groups and put together a class machine. Boxes, ramps, balls, marbles, lots of tape, marble works… the room was a complete disaster! But great ideas and wonderful teamwork made for a fun two days!

Mock Rocks

Remember this lesson prepping?

During the last two weeks, the students have been learning the characteristics of rocks. That began with an experiment called Mock Rocks, where pairs of kids "mined" through their fake rocks to discover shells, smaller rocks, food coloring, and sand. We learned that minerals are the same material all the way through, and that rocks are a combination of minerals.

Here are some pictures of that week...

Lesson Planning

Getting ready for a lesson next week...

Yum (????)