Topic:Thirdgradescienceunitonsound

Createdon:March24,2015
DesignersName:TraciHogrefe
Time:710minutes

ProblemAnalysis
Inthephysicalworld,soundispresentintheeverydaylivesofstudentsandisanimportant
sourceofinformation,butitisattimesdifficulttograsp.Intheclassroom,teacherscansetupa
varietyofscienceexperimentstodemonstratesoundwavesandhowsoundtravels.Students'
textbooksoftenhavediagramsandfiguresthathelpthembetterunderstandkeyvocabularysuch
asamplitudeorvolume,frequencyorpitch,andwavelength,butstudentsoftenconfusetheir
relationship.Studentsalsoneedtonotonlyknowthatsoundtravelsfasterthroughsolidthanin
liquidorgas,butshouldinquireanddiscoverwhythisisthecase.Foralargerlessonofgroupof
modules,onewouldalsoincludetheanatomyoftheearanditsfunction.

Offeringstudentsaninteractivetutorialonsoundtravelandvocabularymayhelpstudentsbetter
grasptheconceptofsoundtravel.

TargetAudience
Studentsareinthirdorfourthgrade.Soundisusuallytaughtinoneofthesetwogradesinmost
Englishspeakingschoolsaroundtheworld.Therefore,thisistargetedforaprimarily
Englishspeakingclassroom.Studentscomewithavarietyofabilitiesandbackgrounds.
AlthoughtheyareinanEnglishspeakingclassroom,Englishmaynotbetheirfirstlanguage.
Studentsarefacedwithsoundintheirsurroundingenvironmentwhetheritisvoice,musicor
noise.Moststudentshavecomeacrosssounddiscoveryearlierintheireducation,whereasothers
maynothave.

LearningObjectives
ThegoalofthiseLearninglessonisforstudentstobetterunderstandsoundtravel.
1. Soundtravelsthroughdifferentmedia
a. Particles:Givendifferentexamplesofparticles(ormoleculesasgas,liquid,and
solid),studentsshouldknowthatparticlestakeupspacecanbeaffectedbysound
(Cognitive,Knowledge).
b. Solids,liquids,&gases:Givendifferentmedia,studentsshouldbeableto
identifywhichmediatransferssoundmoreeffectivelyandwhy.(Cognitive,
comprehension)
2. Soundtravelsinwaves
a. Vocabulary:Givenadiagramofsoundwaves,studentsshouldlabelthedifferent
partsofthesoundwaveswithwavelengthandamplitude.(Cognitive,knowledge)

b. Comparevolume:Givenafigureoftwoinstrumentscreatingvibrations,the
studentshouldbeabletodiscusswhyoneinstrumentislouderandcantravel
fartherbasedonthevibrationoftheparticles.

(Cognitive,evaluate)
c. Comparepitch:Givenahighpitchedsoundandalowpitchedsound,thestudent
shouldbeabletocomparethetwoandmatchafigurethatresemblesthesound
(highfrequencyorlowfrequency).(Cognitive,analysis)
d. Relationship:Givendifferentopportunitiestocomparevolume(amplitude),pitch
(frequency),andwavelengths,studentswillbeabletoconstructtherelationship
betweentheamplitude,frequency,andwavelength.(Cognitive,synthesis)

AssessmentInstruments
Assessmentsshouldbeinteractiveandofferdirectfeedback.
1. Usingamatchingfeature,studentsneedtomatchfiguresrepresentingparticlesinasolid
(rigidparticles),liquid(fluidparticles)andgas(floatingparticles)toanimage
representingasolid(steelblock),liquid(water),andgas(balloon).(Objective1a)
2. Usingasequencingquizslide,studentswillneedtobeabletodraganddropthemediain
orderofthebestwaysoundtravelsthroughthem(solid,liquid,andgas).Thestudent
shouldalsoincludeashortessaywiththeirreasoning.Theirreasoningshouldinclude
somethingabouttheparticlesandtheirdistancetooneanother.(Objective1b)
3. Essayquestion:Lookatthetwofiguresbelow,whichoneislouderandhowcanyou
tell?.(Objective2b)
4. Usingadiagramrepresentingthesoundwave,useadraganddropfeatureorhotspotquiz
tohavethestudentlabelthewavelengthandamplitude.(Objective2a)
5. UsingthesamediagramasQuizquestion3andotherdiagrams(maybe3)ofsound
wavesatdifferentfrequenciesandamplitudes,thestudentwillbeaskedWhichchoice
representsahigherfrequency.Furtherquestionscanbeaskedalongtheselinesif
appropriatewithdifferentchoicesdifferentamplitudes(volumes)shouldalsobe
included.(Objective2b&2c)
6. Multiplechoice:Iftheamplitudeishigher,then,Ifthewavelengthissmaller
thenIfthepitchishigher,thenQuestionsandanswersneedtobeshuffled.
(Objective2d)
a. Thesoundislouder,butthefrequencyandwavelengthstaythesame.
b. Thevolumestaysthesame,butthefrequencyishigher.
c. Theamplitudestaysthesame,butthewavelengthgetssmaller.

Feedback
Feedbackisveryimportantforlearnerswhethertheyansweredthequestioncorrectlyornot.It
isimportantthatthestudentreceivesreinforcementindicatingwhattheydidcorrectlyandwhyit
wascorrect.Thisofcourseisnecessaryforthestudentwhenthestudentanswersincorrectlyas

well.Ifthestudentcannotachievethecorrectanswerthesecondtry,thelessonshouldjumpto
theappropriatelessontoreviewwhatthestudentdidnotunderstand.

InstructionalStrategies
Consideringtheseareschoolagedchildren,interactivitywithanillustratedagentmightbea
goodwaytoopenthelesson.UsingGagnesinstructionaltheoriesandpersonalizationprinciple,
theagentshouldintroducehim/herself/itself,recordthestudentsname,andthenbeginthe
lessonwithaprovokingquestiontogetthelearnersattention.Thelearnersdonotneedto
answerthisquestion.Then,theobjectivesshouldbeclearlystatedinaninformalwaysothatthe
agegroupcancomprehendwhattheywilllearn.Followingthisintroduction,priorknowledge
canbeactivatedwithrhetoricalquestionsabouttheirexperiencewithsoundsorquestionscanbe
administeredinasortofpretestfashion.
Afterpriorknowledgehasbeenactivated,thestudentcanbebroughtintothelesson,beginning
withparticles.

Theagentisaguideandmodelforstudentstofeelmoreconnected.Theagentshoulduse
narrationwheneverpossiblesothatthestudentdoesnotusevisualcognitivespacetointerpret
writtenonscreentext.

ThelessonshouldfollowallofthebasicprinciplesofmultimedialearningandGagne'seventsof
instructionwhenpossibleandappropriate.

InstructionalMaterials

InstructionwillneedtouseanauthoringtoolsuchasAdobeCaptivateorArticulateStorylineto
buildthelesson.Onecanuseshapesandthecharactersavailableontheprogram,buttheageof
thestudentshouldbeconsideredwhenchoosingthecharacter.
SoundsareavailableontheYouTubecreatorstudiofoundafterthedevelopersignsintotheir
account.
Imagesareavailableonthefollowingsites,butthedeveloperisfreetofindandusemore
appropriateimages.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Spherical_pressure_waves.gif
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sine_waves_different_frequencies.svg
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sine_voltage.svg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Drum_vibration_mode21.gif

Suggestedresourcesthatcanbeembeddedandusedasamodelforthelearner.
http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/resources/s/sound/amplitude.asp
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/9_10/changing_sounds.shtml


Thefollowingresourcesareonlyforthedevelopertorefertoasguidancefordevelopinganage
appropriatesoundlesson.
https://www.scienceaz.com/scienceweb/unit/Sound?unitId=4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeLMKUXWm9Q