Science Lesson #2: How Sound Travels

Teacher: Kendall Hall

Grade: Fourth Grade

Subject: Science / PE Health

Date: April 16, 2015

Desired Results

CCSS and/or NYS Learning Standards (Rubric Line 35 and 39):

NYS MST Standard #1, Inquiry

Key Ideas #1 and 2: The central purpose of scientific inquiry is to develop explanations of
natural phenomena in a continuing, creative process. Beyond the use of reasoning and
consensus, scientific inquiry involves the testing of proposed explanations involving the
use of conventional techniques and procedures and usually requiring considerable
ingenuity.

NYS Learning Standards:

Key Idea 4:
Energy exists in many forms, and when these forms change energy is conserved.

4.1a Energy exists in various forms: heat, electric, sound, chemical, mechanical, light.

4.1d Energy and matter interact: water is evaporated by the Suns heat; a bulb is lighted by
means of electrical current; a musical instrument is played to produce sound; dark colors may
absorb light, light colors may reflect light.

NYS Learning Standards

Standard 2- A Safe and Healthy Environment
Elementary Health Education
Students will demonstrate personally and socially responsible behaviors. They will care for and
respect themselves and others. They will recognize threats to the environment and offer appropriate
strategies to minimize them.
Students:
o Understand basic safety rules
Know some personal and social skills which contribute to individual safety
Essential Questions (Rubric Line 36):
How does the material of an object affect the sound produced?

Enduring Understandings(Rubric Line 36):

Students will understand that

Volume (loudness) is a characteristic of sound.
Sound travels as waves through matter.

Objectives (Rubric Line 31):

Students will be able to listen and describe sounds that are produced by tuning forks and
that pass through different materials.
Students will be able to compare and discuss the loudness of the sounds herd.
Students will compare and discuss what they know about how the materials vibrate.
Students devise and present demonstrations to support their ideas.

Assessment Evidence (Rubric Line 32)

Performance Tasks:
Students will work in groups to investigate which object carries sound the best.

Other Evidence:
Teacher will note students understandings from notebooks.

Areas of Child Development (Rubric Line 28)

Cognitive development is supported because children are having their thinking about
sound and how it travels challenged.
Linguistic development is supported because children must explain their thinking about
sound traveling and why some materials work better than others to the teacher and to
one another
Emotional development is supported because children are experiencing a situation in
which they need to depend on one another to handle the materials; meter stick, twine,

foil, tuning forks.

Learning Plan
Classroom Arrangement:
Students will work in groups of two to four students for this lesson.

Materials:
Science notebooks
Plastic trays
Wooden meter stick, yardstick
Foil
Twine
Tuning forks

Learning/Instructional Activities (Rubric Lines 29, 33, 34, 39):

Anticipatory Set (Rubric Line 38):

In the beginning of a lesson, the teacher will make some sort of noise. The teacher will
ding on a bell. Students will be asked if they have herd the noise? Why did they hear the
noise? How could hear it from across the room?
Teacher will write ideas on a smart board slide

The teacher will gather students to the carpet and read Ty's One-Man Band by Mildred
Pitts Walter (Author), Margot Tomes (Illustrator)
Procedure
Story Problem (Rubric Line 40): Living in the country it is very peaceful. Sometimes at night my
family hears a train but we do not live by any train tracks. How come we hear the sound of the train?
Can the sound of the train travel and if so how?

Discrepant Event
The Story Problem presents the discrepant event.

Prior Knowledge Activation: Have students brainstorm their ideas about what they think
about sound, a knowledge-level question on Blooms Taxonomy. (Write down all their
ideas.) Have them respond in the same way to the question, How does sound travel?
(a comprehension question on Blooms Taxonomy).

Procedure:
Begin lesson by asking students to review how they produced sounds in lesson 1 with
the tuning forks.
Challenge students to think about how sound gets from place to place. Ask them to
write their ideas in their science notebooks.
Invite students to share some of their ideas in a classroom brainstorming session. The
teacher will make a list on a blank SMART Board and label the slide How Sound
Travels
Focus students attention on the objects displayed at the distribution center: meter
sticks, foil, twine. Ask them which objects they think sound will travel through best and
why.
Teacher will tell students that today we will be investigating how sound travels. One
student will hold the end of the tuning fork near one end of the object while another
student listens at the other end. Tell students that when testing the string, it will work
best if they wrap one end of the string around the stem of the tuning fork before striking
the tuning fork; then to listen. They should stretch the string out between them and the
fork.
Ask students to think about two questions then they are investigating:
-Can you hear the sound of the tuning fork through all the materials you are testing?
-Which materials do you find that the sound travels through best? (Resulting in the
loudest sound)
Have students collect materials and begin their investigations.
Challenge students to think of other ways to determine whether sound travels through
the objects being investigated. If they do not suggest this, have them repeat the
experiment, touching the end of the object with their hands rather than listening. Allow
time for all students to experience this investigation.
When they have finished testing the materials they have been given, encourage
students to try other materials such as a broom handle, window glass, their desktop, a
whiteboard, or a wall.
Students investigate and document findings in journal. Students may need guidance
with a method to record findings (like a chart).

Resolve the Discrepancy

On the SMART Board, have the question from the beginning of the lesson on the board.
Have students turn to a partner and think of why this may happen. The teacher will not
give any answers but they will just listen to students ideas. Some students may have
different answers from the beginning of the lesson If they do they asked why they
now think differently.

Assessment (Rubric Line 32):

This lesson does not have any written assessments. Throughout the lesson students are
asked to share their findings and write down answers to questions that they have
explored. The teacher will notice students and see how they doing and if they are
understanding. Throughout the unit students write in their notebooks and from time to
time the teacher will look through an check for understanding.

Closing Activity:
After each team has had time to investigate whether sound travels though the objects,
direct students to return the materials to the distribution center.
Ask the teams to report what they observed to the class. Encourage students to tell
what they did and what questions they now have. Add the questions to the chart from
lesson 1. Questions we have learned about sound

DIFFERENTIATION: Students should all come to some understanding of how sound

travels. Students who cannot express their understanding through writing will be able to
explain verbally or act out their explanation.

Evaluation of Teaching *done after the lesson is taught*:

Did the lesson engage students?
Did the lesson reach all learners?
What would you do differently next time to promote student learning?

References

Walter,M.,&Tomes,M.(1980).Ty'sonemanband.NewYork,NY:Four
WindsPress.