REFLECT

Debrief and Discuss [10 mins] 

After students have rotated through each of the traveling sound stations, come back together for a full group discussion of the results. 

Script: Let’s take a look at our Traveling Sounds chart together and count up our tallies. 

• Let’s look at how many students thought sound could travel through the desk. Count tallies and share results. Ask a few students to share observations from the experiment supporting why they believed sound could or couldn’t travel through the desk. Repeat this process for sound traveling through water and air. 
• Remind students: Remember, it is okay if we had different observations and ideas about each traveling sound! Science experiments often have different results when different people are conducting them - this is why it is important to collect as many observations as possible! 

Let’s summarize the big discoveries we made during this experiment: Sound travels through solids (the table), liquids (the water), and gas (the air)! 

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ENGAGE

Making Waves [15 min]

5 Min Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdGyvGPZ1G0 (Peekaboo Kidz)

5 Min Discussion: Debrief on the video using one or more of the following prompts:

• What did you learn about how sound travels? (Movement like clapping or strumming an instrument causes vibration in molecules. These vibrations or “sound waves” help sound travel)
• What are some different measures of sound? (Volume, pitch, frequency)
• What new questions about sound do you have? (Give children a chance to share and discuss questions)

5 Min Slinky Sound Wave Demo: 

Materials needed: A slinky (a metal slinky works best)

Script: We know that sound travels in waves and we know that sound can travel through solids, liquids, and gas. Can we see these waves with our eyes? No, we can’t see these waves with our eyes. But we can use a slinky to model how sound waves move! Let’s give it a try: 

• Have one student sit on the floor and hold onto one end of a slinky. Stretch out the other end and sit down across from them. 
• While the student holds their end of the slinky still, move your end slightly from side to side. What happens? (The motion creates “waves” that move down the slinky towards your student.) 
• Hold your end of the slinky still and let the student move their end and watch what happens (Now their motion creates “waves” that move down the slinky towards you)
• What happens to the waves if you both move your end at the same time? (Sound waves travel in only one direction at a time, just like they do on the slinky.)
• Repeat these steps allowing different students the opportunity to create waves with the slinky as time permits. 

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Exploring Sound and Music [20 min]

15 Min Play Sounda-pa-looza 

Have students work individually or with a partner to play The Cat in the Hat: Sounda-pa-looza game. Students learn about volume and pitch by exploring a variety of whimsical instruments. https://pbskids.org/catinthehat/games/sounda-pa-looza (pbskids.org)

5 Min Discuss and Debrief

Discuss the wave combinator game using one or more of the following discussion questions: 

• What did you like about the wave combinator? 
• What was challenging?
• Do you remember what any of the following terms meant in the wave combinator?: 

• Offset (alignment/placement of the wave)
• Amplitude (height of the wave)
• Wavelength (distance between adjacent wave peaks or “crests”)

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Homework [5 min]

Students can continue exploring traveling sounds at home with their family. Speaking at a normal volume, can a family member hear you when you are inside your bedroom with the door open? How about with the door closed? Can a family member hear you when you are speaking at a normal volume when they are in a different room in the house? How far away can your family member be while still being able to hear you speak at a normal volume?