Recycled Instruments and Basic Acoustics
This lesson plan meets the following standards:
Kindergarten: Scientific Inquiry. Ask “what if” questions (what if I stretch this string out or what if I add more water or what if I use a bigger bottle). Use the five senses to observe the natural world (hearing and vision).
Grade 1: Acquisition of Vocabulary. Find root words and endings.
Grade 1: Earth and Earth and Space Sciences. Recycling.
Grade 1: Science and Technology: Explore that some kinds of materials are better than others for making something. Identify materials that can be recycled.
Grade 1: Scientific Inquiry. Ask “what happens when…” questions. Work in a small group to complete an investigation and then share what was found with others. Communicate work orally.
Grade 2: Acquisition of Vocabulary: Determine the meaning of prefixes and suffixes. Use root words and endings to figure out the meaning of a word.
Grade 2: Physical Sciences. Explore how things make sounds. Explore and describe sounds (high, low, soft, loud).
Grade 2: Science and Technology. Explore why people make or invent new things to meet their own wants or needs.
Grade 3: Acquisition of Vocabulary. Understand what prefixes and suffixes are to determine what words mean. Use root words to determine what words mean.
Introduction: This can be adapted to K-3 (objectives will differ according to grade level—e.g., less of a focus on vocabulary for younger children). Students will need a physical setting in which they can work in small groups (tables with four or five chairs around them). They will need room to put together their instruments. They will need to be able to move around easily in order to gain access to materials. An ordinary classroom will be fine if it meets these conditions. An art room would also work well, or even a cafeteria.
Objectives: See above for benchmarks.
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Students will be able to explore sounds, asking “what if” questions as they construct instruments that can produce high and low pitches and soft and loud sounds.
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Students will figure out prefixes in order to figure out the meanings of words.
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Students will used recycled materials to invent new instruments.
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Students will present their instruments to their classmates using drama that requires them to discuss the qualities and capabilities of their instruments.
Vocabulary: aerophone, membranophone, chordophone, idiophone*. High, low, loud, soft.
Preparation:
Students will need to bring in clean recycled objects (margerine tubs, toilet paper cores, coffee cans, etc.) over a period of weeks. Other materials to have on hand could include dried beans, rubber bands, water, coat hangers, dental floss, and any other stray materials.
The room will need to have all the recycled objects readily available and visible. Students will need to be told appropriate procedures for getting the materials they need. They will need to be offered several opportunities to explore and choose materials during the creation process.
Support Materials and Instructional Media:
Posters of the musical instruments of the orchestra could be helpful. Need a chalkboard.
Procedures:
Time: This lesson could be divided into several parts. The introduction might require twenty to thirty minutes. Creation time could vary, depending on groups. You may need to have some alternative activities for students who finish quickly in order to allow other students the time they need to finish their instruments. The drama portion could be a separate lesson.
Preparatory set: This lesson could introduce a unit on recycling (or it could be a culminating lesson, with the instruments being played and presented to parents). Additionally, one part of the preparatory set is for you to figure out how you are going to have them work in groups. Does your class work well randomly or have you figured out groups that work well together?
Motivation: Inventing an instrument is an engaging activity. Students will be able to use their creativity in this lesson. They will be able to work in groups.
Sequence:
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The first part of the lesson is to establish that there are four types of instruments. Use a Socratic method to establish the meaning of the root, “phone.” How many words can students think of that have the word “phone” in them? (telephone, microphone, saxophone, phonics, megaphone) Write these on the board. After you have four or five words, ask students if they can figure out what the word phone means based on all of these words. (sound). You may have to discuss these words a lot before they come up with the idea of sound. Ask them what a microphone does and see if that helps.
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Follow the same procedure with “aero” (air). They probably can come up with aerobics (demonstrate aerobics and ask them what that is). They may be able to come up with “air plane” which is a good answer. The British actually spell that word “aeroplane.” Some might have heard of aerodynamics from car commercials.
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Based on the idea of air and sound, what does the word, aerophone mean? (something that makes sound using air). Ask them for examples—flute, piccolo, clarinet, horn, tuba. Also, accordian, bagpipe, harmonica, and certain types of organs.
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Then do “membrano” (membrane—a thin skin) and “chordo” the same way. You may have to explain membranes. We have a membrane around our heart and we have membranes that hold our intestines together. Our skin is a membrane. For chord, (string or string-like object), try spinal chord or the cord that gets plugged in.
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Membranophones—things that make sound with membranes (try to ask this as a question so they figure this out. Don’t give it to them). These are drums. Again, ask it, don’t tell it.
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Likewise, chordophones are stringed instruments, such as the piano, violin, viola, cello, bass, guitar, banjo, mandolin, citar, etc. Don’t tell them. Make them figure it out (you can give hints).
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Idiophones—these are instruments that make sounds based on the unique properties of the materials of which they are made. Young children will not have heard of most of the “idio” words such as “idiosyncracy” and “idiom.” So you will have to teach this. But if you have used the Socratic method on the previous items, they will be with you enough to listen to this. Examples of idiophones include kazoos, bells, maracas, etc.
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Now introduce the concept of pitch. Who can sing me a high pitch? Who can sing a pitch lower than that? If you want to get sophisticated, you can sing two pitches that are closer together and ask which one is higher and which one is lower.
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Dynamics or loudness. As a class, can they sing really soft? Can they sing really loud? Be prepared for loudness! As an additional note of interest (which you can introduce if you are so inclined) the instrument we call the “piano” was originally called the “pianoforte.” Piano in Italian means soft and forte in Italian means loud. The pianoforte was the first keyboard instrument that could be played softly or loudly depending on how hard you hit the keys.
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Today they are going to be inventors. They will get into groups. In their groups, they have to come up with: an aerophone, a chordophone, a membranophone, and an idiophone. Two of their instruments have to be able to play more than one pitch. Two of their instruments have to be able to be played soft and loud.
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Explain to them your procedures for how they will get their materials and return to their groups to work on their instruments.
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During the group work, circulate in the room to make sure that every group understands what it is doing. The goal is for each group to succeed in making the proper sorts of instruments. You will need to so some problem solving in order for this to happen. Try to be Socratic—ask “what if” questions where possible to get the students to figure out what will work and what won’t.
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As students finish their instruments, circulate the room and redirect each group individually (you could do this as a general announcement, but you will be interrupting students’ work and some will be ready earlier than others for this next part). Each group has to come up with an infomercial for its instruments. Review with them what an infomercial is. They have to demonstrate their instrument—how it makes soft/loud, high/low pitches as appropriate and what makes their instrument something someone would want to buy. Because infomercials are longer than regular commercials, they could go into the history of their instrument—where the idea came from. Anything to sell their instrument. Remind students to use their speaking skills—to make sure other people can hear what they have to say. This step and the next one could be done the next day so students might be fresher in their approach.
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Have students present their infomercials to each other. Help students to practice appropriate speaking and listening skills in their presentations.
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You can extend this lesson by asking them what worked to make the different types of sounds (loud soft high low). Larger masses (e.g., larger volumes of air or larger strings) produce lower pitches and smaller masses (small volumes of air or small/short strings) produce higher pitches. By leading a classroom discussion in a Socratic manner, you can help students to develop this conclusion.
Cleanup: Students need to pick up the extra parts in their area and bring them back to a central location. Leftovers need to be recycled or saved for another project. A broom might need to be used in case of spillage.
Assessment:
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In your interactions with the various groups, you will notice students asking “what if” questions. If a group seems less engaged, then you will need to help them ask this question and explore the answers as they construct instruments.
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In succeeding science discussions, you can ask them about this experience and see who can discuss the “what if” questions they explored as they constructed their instruments.
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During the discussion of prefixes, be sure that a variety of students are participating by supplying words and figuring out meanings. If you are getting only one or two students, see if you can call on someone else. If there is mass confusion, slow down and ask questions that they can start to guess the answers to. Through observing student behavior, you will be able to assess which students have been able to use these prefixes to get the meaning of a new word.
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Observe the groups to make sure that all students are involved in creating the instruments.
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All students should be involved in the drama. Look for fluency in presentation, taking into account that some students have a hard time talking in front of groups. Really excellent presentations will demonstrate familiarity with the infomercial genre (“But wait…there’s more”) as well as the ability to demonstrate the actual instruments and talk about their features.
Extensions
You could do a formal lesson on acoustics and pitch using scientific process (make and test hypotheses).
Students could create a brochure or ad for their instruments (adds writing to the objectives).
Use the Socratic method on other prefixes that are more a part of everyday vocabulary.
When students explore other cultures, ask them to identify the types of instruments within the culture.
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