How Do We Perceive Sound?

Summary Week of September 24^th, 2013

How do we perceive sound?

This learning group has shown a strong interest in music and sound.  They continually bring out the musical instruments and have shown a great interest in the drum.  Relating to our overarching big idea of “Perceptions” we have begun to study the different ways we interpret and perceive sounds.  We will be exploring sounds with all of our senses, not just with our hearing.  For our first week we have been exploring the perception of sound by using our sense of touch.  The children have been working with various materials that produce vibrations, so the children can begin to formulate the idea of sound as movement.  During our first week of school the children had the chance to interact with the large drum, using sand to explore the vibration of the drum top as sound was created.  We have moved on to exploring using the tuning forks which create a vibration similar to the drums, but have a different sound.  The children can hold the tuning forks and feel the movement of the metal.  The have explored with the tuning forks in various materials, watching how the vibrations have moved sand, water and other sensory materials.  They found that the vibrating forks produced interesting sound when they touched various materials (specifically the plastic containers and trays).  They would hold the tuning forks to their ears to listen closer to the sounds produced by the movement of metal.  Some of the children even held the tuning forks to their cheeks to get a closer feel.  They have really begun to develop a strong sense about vibrations and their relation to sound!

In the next few weeks we will continue to explore vibrations and how vibrations produce sound.  We plan to explore sounds using other instruments, including the autoharp which we will explore next.  Students will also be exploring how the sounds look, using computer media players and other materials.  The exploration will continue with the students exploring the feelings of sound.  As the children’s curiosity grows, so will the lesson plans.  We will continue to see what ideas the children develop about sound and build off their thinking.