Data Analysis Module 7 Lesson 7

LESSON 7: DATA ANALYSIS

OVERVIEW:
Students will learn how to visualize sound by analyzing spectrograms. The will become
familiar with the Raven Lite software as they record their voices, learning concepts of
pitch, frequency and volume, and how these appear on a spectrogram. Students will then
apply this knowledge to recorded bird songs before they analyze their own data. Students
have collected data in the previous lesson. In this lesson, they will analyze the data using
the Raven software and interpret it to answer their research question.

WAYS OF KNOWING URBAN ECOLOGY:

Students will…
Understand No specific goals connected with acting on urban ecology
in this lesson.
Talk • Qualitatively describe sound intensity and pitch on a
spectrogram.
Do • Quantitatively determine sound intensity and pitch on a
spectrogram
• Analyze and interpret data using Raven Software.
Act No specific goals connected with acting on urban ecology
in this lesson.

SAFETY GUIDELINES:
There are no particular safety guidelines associated with this activity.

PREPARATION:
Time:
2-4 class periods
This lesson should be used in conjunction with Lesson 6: Data Collection

Materials:
Activity 7.1:
LCD projector and computer w/ Raven Lite and speakers
Copies of student sheet
Activity 7.2
Computers with Raven Lite installed
Stock bird recordings
Copies of student sheet
Activity 7.3
For each 3-4 students:
Computers with Raven Lite Installed
Student’s audio files transferred to the computers
Optional student sheet 7.3

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Data Analysis Module 7 Lesson 7

INSTRUCTIONAL SEQUENCE:
Activity 7.1: Introduction to Spectrograms
Note: Activity 7.1 and Activity 7.2 will only be done on the first days of analysis and
won’t be repeated. In this activity, students will record their own voices into the Raven
program. Their voices will be displayed as spectrograms, which students will explore to
learn about pitch and amplitude.

Teaching Alternative
If you are doing the low tech investigation you can skip Activity 7.1

1. Students should work with their data collection groups. Each group should have a
computer with Raven Lite and a microphone attached.
o Hand out the student sheet for Activity 7.1
2. You may wish to go through question 1 as a class. The recording can be found on the
included CD <Lesson4_goodmorning.wav>

Teaching Suggestion
Students can easily get off track recording their own voice. You may want to walk
around the class asking students about what they’re seeing
For example:
• What does the color represent (e.g., the brighter or whiter the color, the louder the
sound)
• What’s on the “x-axis”? (time)
• What’s on the y-axis? (frequency or pitch)
• Point to a sound before they play it back and have them predict whether it will be
high or low pitch, loud or soft
• Make sure they notice how to measure sound by using the cursor

If students finish early have them measure the pre-recorded songs that are loaded with
Raven Lite (Program files>Raven>Examples). Why can’t you hear the whale? (pitch is
below the human threshold)

Activity 7.2: Analyzing Bird Songs

In this activity, students will play a matching game to review bird song. You will play a
song and students will choose which of the images in front of them matches that song.

Teaching Alternative
Even if you are doing the low tech version of the investigation, students will still
benefit from learning that you can visualize sound through spectrograms. Complete
this activity, but you do not need to emphasize the spectrogram analysis.

1. Pass out the student sheets for Activity 7.2. Tell students that you will be playing
a game to practice reading spectrograms

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Data Analysis Module 7 Lesson 7

2. Play one of the bird songs. You may want to play the song 2 or 3 times so
students have a chance to process what they are looking at and hearing. Ask
students: Who chose “A”? Why did you choose “A”? etc.
o Repeat step 2 for the three other bird songs.
o After all 4 bird songs have been played, give students a chance to revise
their choices. Go over the answers with students. Point out what
characteristics of the spectrogram relate to the sounds that they heard.
3. After the game have the students meet in their groups to complete the analysis of
the spectrograms. For each spectrogram they should determine the minimum
pitch, maximum pitch, and either length of the song, frequency of the loudest part
of the song, or length of interval between songs or phrases.
4. As a class go over the answers. For each question have a group state their answer,
then ask the other groups if they agreed or disagreed. As a class come to a
consensus. Tell the students that is important to agree so that when they are
analyzing their own data their analysis will be accurate and reliable.

Concluding the Lesson

1. Have students compare the three different bird songs. How were they alike? How
were they different? Why do you think birds have such different songs and calls?

Activity 7.3
Before this lesson begins, make sure the files are transferred onto the student computers.
Again, if possible alternate analysis days with days in the field. This will help break up
the monotony of either task. It will also allow students who made “mistakes” in data
collection to fix them on the next day when recording.
1. Have students into their research groups
2. Students should review their research question and their bioacoustics field notes.
Students should take out their data table to organize their data, or you can provide
example tables in the Activity 7.3 sheet.
o Using this data table, students should begin to analyze their data. These
analyses will differ based on their research question and research method.
o You may wish to set a limit or goal for each group. For example, analyze
5 or 10 birds from each transect or grid.
3. As students analyze their data they should constantly be referring to their research
questions. Students should also reflect on their individual predictions
4. Students should begin to draw conclusions from the analysis of their data.

Concluding the Lesson

1. Ask a representative from each group to share with the class where they are with their
research, what they still hope to do, and if they can see any patterns or draw any
conclusions.

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 Data Analysis Module 7 Lesson 7

Name: ______________________________Date: _________ Class/Period:________

Lesson 7.1: An Introduction to Reading Spectrograms

Background: In this lesson you will learn how to use Raven Lite, a computer program
developed at the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, to visualize sound. Raven Lite
converts a sound into a visual representation called a spectrogram. These spectrograms
are three-dimensional graphs in which the x-axis is time (in seconds), the y-axis is pitch
or frequency. The third dimension, color, represents sound intensity, or how loud the
sound is. The louder the sound, the brighter the color will be.

1. Below is a spectrogram of a person saying “good morning”. Please label the axes.

y-axis label:
________________

x-axis label: ________________________

C. What does color in a spectrogram represent? ______________________________

Today, you will record your voice and the voices of your group members to explore how
sound appears in Raven and how to analyze your voice.

Materials and Equipment

• Laptop with Raven Lite

• Microphone
• Decibel Meter (optional)

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Data Analysis Module 7 Lesson 7

Procedures:
Recording our voice
Let’s compare how sounds differ on a spectrogram. To do so we will record our voices
in Raven Lite. A spectrogram is a picture which allows us to visualize or see sounds.
We will be using these in our analysis later. Let’s record our voice saying “I love
science”

1. On your laptop, open the program Raven Lite

2. To open a recording window, click on the microphone icon in the upper left
corner. The top half of the window will show a waveform, the bottom a spectrogram.

3. When you are ready to begin recording, click on the green triangle in the bottom left
corner of the recording window. To stop recording, click on the green square.
(Note: if you restart recording in the same window, it will delete your previous
recording)
4. Start recording
5. Whisper “I love science” and then repeat “I love science” in a normal voice.
6. Stop recording
7. Scroll back and look at your recordings. The top window (blue lines) is a waveform,
what difference can you see between a quiet and loud noise?

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Data Analysis Module 7 Lesson 7

8. The bottom window is the spectrogram. Describe the differences and similarities
between the spectrogram when you whispered and the spectrogram when you spoke
normally

Whose Voice is Highest?

Now let’s compare pitch (or frequency) of our voice. Let’s figure out who can make the
noise with the highest pitch!

1. Prediction: Who in your group can make the noise with the highest pitch?
_______________
2. Each person should practice saying “eeeee” in the highest pitch that they can. Try
to keep the volume (or intensity) the same across members of your group.
3. Open a new sound recording window
4. Record each person saying “eeeeee” in the highest pitch they can.
5. Stop recording
6. Scroll back and look at your recordings. For today, ignore the top waveform.

7. The bottom window is the spectrogram. Describe how the spectrogram is

different for the two sounds.

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Data Analysis Module 7 Lesson 7

8. Now let’s quantify whose voice has the highest frequency (or pitch).
Place your cursor on the highest point in the recording and look in the bottom left
corner of the Raven Lite window. This will give you your frequency of each
sound. Record these data below:

Group Member Frequency or

Pitch (Hz)

Conclusions

1. Describe what the spectrogram would look like if it was quiet and then there was a
really loud noise.

2. Draw what the spectrogram would look like if there was a really low constant sound
and then 2 really high pitched sounds.

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Data Analysis Module 7 Lesson 7

Lesson 7.2: Analyzing Spectrograms

Mystery Spectrograms
In this activity you will be given four spectrograms. You teacher will play the song of
each bird. Your job will be to match the spectrogram to the correct song. Remember
when you’re looking at a spectrogram, the x-axis is time (in seconds), the y-axis is pitch
(in hertz or kilohertz) and color is loudness or intensity. Review the example below:

Maximum pitch

Minimum pitch

Measurements will appear here

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Spectrogram A

What bird song is this? ___________________________________________

1. minimum pitch ___________

2. maximum pitch ____________

3. Choose at least one of these options:

♦ Length of song ____________

♦ Frequency of the loudest part of the song ____________

♦ Length of interval between songs or phrases ____________

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Data Analysis Module 7 Lesson 7

Spectrogram B

What bird song is this? _________________________________________

1. minimum pitch ___________

2. maximum pitch ____________

3. Choose at least one of these options:

♦ Length of song ____________

♦ Frequency of the loudest part of the song ____________

♦ Length of interval between songs or phrases ____________

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Data Analysis Module 7 Lesson 7

Spectrogram C

What bird song is this? _________________________________________

1. minimum pitch ___________

2. maximum pitch ____________

3. Choose at least one of these options:

♦ Length of song ____________

♦ Frequency of the loudest part of the song ____________

♦ Length of interval between songs or phrases ____________

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Data Analysis Module 7 Lesson 7

Spectrogram D

What bird song is this? ___________________________________________

1. minimum pitch ___________

2. maximum pitch ____________

3. Choose at least one of these options:

♦ Length of song ____________

♦ Frequency of the loudest part of the song ____________

♦ Length of interval between songs or phrases ____________

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Data Analysis Module 7 Lesson 7

Name: _________________________________ Date: _________ Class/Period:________

Lesson 7.3: Data Analysis

Based on the research question, use the data table your group constructed or the appropriate
table(s) provided below.

Data tables for comparing two sites:

Data table for site 1: ______________________________________________
File Name From Data Sheet Measurement in Raven:
Date Collected Background Bird
Noise level (dB) Species (if _______________________
known) (min pitch, number notes, etc.)

Data table for site 2: ______________________________________________

File Name From Data Sheet Measurement in Raven:
Date Collected Background Bird
Noise level (dB) Species (if _______________________
known) (min pitch, number notes, etc.)

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Data Analysis Module 7 Lesson 7

Name: _______________________________________ Date: _________ Class:________

Lesson 7.3: Data Analysis

Based on the research question, use the data table your group constructed or the appropriate
table(s) provided below.

Data tables for comparing the song of one species to background noise:

Data table for ___________________(species) song recordings

File Name From Data Sheet Measurement in Raven:
Date Background
Collected Noise level _______________________
(dB) (min pitch, dominant pitch, etc.)