Sound Learning Group - Week 8

During this week’s inquiry lesson we expanded our exploration of sound to look more closely at sound travel through water.  In our previous exploration we used tuning forks in the water as an introduction to this concept.  The children began to show an understanding of how sound travels in water.  This week we used pipes and instruments in the water table.  Some of the children used the pipes to talk through which is how we used this material in a previous lesson.  Some kids watched me put the pipe to my ear.  They mimicked my actions and put the pipe to their ear.  When they did this they commented and said “I hear noise”.  Many of the kids used the instruments to bang against each other to make noise.  They children developed an understanding that sound can be heard in water as well as through using force by shaking or hitting with drum sticks. 

To extend on this lesson I plan to explore height in relation to sound.  We can use different materials such as balls, cotton ball, and feathers and drop them into a bucket from different elevations.  This will help the children make observations about how sound changes depending on height.