Grade

5 Music Unit Plan: The Science of Sound

Program Foundations Students discover how they can make music informally Students are made aware of connections between the various subjects and their lives, serving to encourage life-long learning Unit Foundations The Science of Sound: Understanding that there exists a relationship between science and music (Physical Acoustics) The Science of Sound: How can we use our knowledge of how sounds are made to make music? Essential Questions What is sound? How is it created? When are sounds considered music? Cross-Curricular Outcomes Science 5-0-1c Identify practical problems to solve. 5-0-1d Identify various methods to solve a practical problem, and select and justify one to implement. 5-0-3d Develop criteria to evaluate a prototype. 5-0-4b Construct a prototype. 4-3-01 Use appropriate vocabularies related to their investigations of sound. Include: energy, sound, vibration, vocal cords, pitch, loudness, sound waves, outer ear, middle ear, inner ear, brain, transmit, absorb, reflect, detect. 4-3-04 Identify and classify various sounds using student-generated criteria. 4-3-05 Recognize that vibrations cause sounds. Include: the human voice relies on the vibrations of vocal cords. 4-3-06 Use the design process to create a musical instrument. 4-3-07 Demonstrate how the pitch and loudness of sounds can be modified. Examples: differences in sound when plucking a loose rubber band vs. a stretched rubber band. 4-3-08 Observe and describe properties of sound. Include: travels in waves in all directions 4-3-09 Describe how the human ear is designed to detect sound vibrations. Include: sound is transmitted from the outer ear to the middle ear and the inner ear, which relays messages to the brain. 4-3-11 Describe practices that help ensure protection of the ears and hearing. 4-3-16 Describe devices that extend our ability to produce, transmit, and detect sound. 4-3-18 Describe the role of sound in different jobs and hobbies. 1

Elementary General Music Program: Grades 4 8 Grade 5 UNIT PLAN The Science of Sound

Grade 5 Music Unit Plan: The Science of Sound Processes Students will experiment with the creation of sounds using instruments Students will experiment with the creation of sounds using everyday objects Students will design and build instruments out of everyday objects Students will use their created instruments to compose in small groups Students will record their compositions using Garage Band Content Creation and manipulation of sound: Vibrations Improvisation and Composition using primarily non-pitched percussion Basic use of widely-available recording technology Application of sound creation to different jobs or hobbies Materials Why Does the Sun Shine? by They Might Be Giants video Computer, speakers & projector Learning for Kids: Vibration Science Video A diverse array of pitched/non- pitched percussion instruments Sound of Music Do-Re-Me video Vegetable Orchestra video Supplies for construction of student instruments Computer with Garage Band and a functional microphone Skills Students can explain that sound is created by vibrations, and these vibrations can be manipulated based on factors such as length of strings or tubes, elasticity in a drum skin, etc. Students manipulate objects to create desired sounds Students design and create an instrument Students manipulate their instruments to create a composition Students take risks and encourage each others musical discovery Students work cooperatively to create a short composition, building off one anothers ideas

Culminating Performance In small groups of three to five, students will create original compositions using a form of their choice using only the instruments that they have created. Upon deciding that their composition is complete, students will record a version in Garage Band. Each student will receive a CD with all of the groups recordings.

Propensities Specific to Unit: Students understand how sound is created, and why it is important for musicians to know how their instruments work. Generalized to Music Program: Students gain confidence in risk- taking and improvisation. Students foster interpersonal skills for making music collectively Students develop proficiency in Garage Band, which is widely available for personal recording

Grade 5 Music Unit Plan: The Science of Sound Lesson 1: Activate Why Does The Sun Shine? YouTube video. Have you heard that song before? What is it talking about? Acquire We can sing about Science, but how else can Music and Science work together? Have a class discussion/ brainstorm ways that music and science are related. Apply Divide students into 2 groups. Students in Group 1 will experiment with barred Orff instruments in partners. Students in Group 2 will experiment with drums, again in partners. Have Partner #1 play one forte note on their instrument, and then Partner #2 will gently place their hand on the instrument. What do you feel? Try again, and really pay attention for the shaking or vibration. Switch partners! Switch groups! Assess Discuss briefly. What did you feel when you touched the drum or barred instrument after your partner played? Observation Checklist: Working Understands that cooperatively sound can be felt? with partner? YES NO YES APPROACHING NO Sally Lesson 2: Activate Discussion: What do you remember about last class? What did we do when we played the Orff instruments? So can we only hear sound, or can we use another sense to experience sound? Acquire Watch Vibration Science Video from Learning for Kids website. How do they change the sound on the guitar in the video? What happened when they made the strings shorter (longer)? Apply Students will rotate stations in groups of 5 to experiment with 4 different instruments, and how they make sound. Station 1: Slide whistle (spraying with sanitizer between students) Station 2: Barred Orff Instruments

Grade 5 Music Unit Plan: The Science of Sound Station 3: Pitched Sound Tubes Station 4: Tsymbaly (Ukrainian instrument featuring metal cords of varying lengths which are plucked) Assess Observation Checklist: Are students Understands that engaged in longer = lower, each station? shorter = higher? YES NO YES APPROACHING NO Sally Lesson 3: Activate Discuss: After students enter, ask them what they noticed about all of the instruments last time. What happened to the sound when the slide whistle was longer? What about the Sound Tubes and Orff Instrument bars? Did the longer bars/tubes make a lower sound or a higher sound than the shorter bars/tubes? What about the Tsymbaly strings? So we know that LONGER items make lower sounds! Acquire Demonstration: Now take these 4 glasses filled with 4 different amounts of water. Which glass do you think will make the lowest sound: the one with the most water or the least water? Why? Apply Divide students into groups of 3. Give students pop bottles and a bucket of water. Let them experiment with filling the pop bottles with different amounts of water and blowing over the top of the bottle to make a sound. Can your group make a simple song, like Hot Cross Buns or Mary Had A Little Lamb? Teacher will wander and assist students who may struggle with making sound by blowing on the pop bottles. Some students may use the glasses instead for differentiation. Assess Can students create a song by working cooperatively and problem solving? Yes/No Lesson 4: Activate Play The Sound of Musics Do-Re-Me as students enter. Discuss: Does all music sound like that? What else can music sound like? What is the difference between sound and music? Can all sound be music?

Grade 5 Music Unit Plan: The Science of Sound Acquire Students are divided into small groups and given an assortment of everyday objects. Which ones make a sound? Do you think all of the sounds are musical? Have students demonstrate sounds that they think are or arent musical. What qualities make a sound musical or not musical? Apply Explain to students that we will be making instruments out of everyday objects. Go through outline of project, allowing students to work independently or in pairs to allow for scaffolding as needed (pairs must still make 2 instruments so that each partner has something to play). How can students use what they know about sound and vibrations to make an instrument out of regular stuff? Have students begin brainstorming as they experiment further with the everyday objects and sound. Assess Are students working diligently on creating plans/designs for their instruments? Yes/No Are partners working well together? If not, do groupings need to be adapted by teacher? Lesson 5: Activate Students will watch a video about a Vegetable Orchestra where the players make very complicated music by playing instruments that they made for themselves out of vegetables. Apply Students will be able to build their instruments, hopefully completing them by the end of the period. If they are not complete, students must take them home to finish them or work on them at recess. We will be using them next class to play! Assess Have students completed their instruments? Do we need to allow a few minutes at the beginning of next class to finish them? Instrument Can the sound be makes sound? manipulated? YES NO YES APPROACHING NO Sally

Grade 5 Music Unit Plan: The Science of Sound Lesson 6: Activate Rhythm Circle: I divide the students into 3 groups. I teach a rhythm to each group by rote. I have the groups echo me one at a time, beginning with group #1. Rhythm for Group #1: quarter notes Rhythm for Group #2: eighth notes Rhythm for Group #3: melody rhythm I tell the students to continue clapping, and that I will give them instructions. They must listen very carefully to my instructions, but also to each others clapping so that the rhythm circle doesnt fall apart! I proceed to give dynamic cues (louder/softer) to specific groups in order to emphasize the various rhythms. I tell a group that Im going to give them a sign to stop, but they must keep the rhythm going in their brains because I will ask them to come back in when I give them a sign. We experiment like this for 2-3 minutes. Acquire Discuss: What was interesting or exciting about the rhythm circle? What was hard or frustrating? Did we create a song with our rhythm circle? Was there a right answer with our rhythm circle, or did we make it up and learn together? Apply Students are then broken into pre-determined, strategic smaller groups and asked to create their own rhythm circles by clapping. Teacher wanders to try to assist struggling groups. How did our rhythm circles go? Youre all composers! Can we try the same thing with our instruments that we made? Assess Students Students accurately maintain pulse? echo rhythms? YES NO YES APPROACHING NO Sally

Grade 5 Music Unit Plan: The Science of Sound Lesson 7: Activate Do another rhythm circle. Students will be more familiar with the process this time, so it should be quicker and/or a bit more advanced in its rhythmic content. Apply Students are again broken into small, pre-determined groups. They must now create a rhythm circle of their own, using their created instruments. Their rhythm circle must have at least 3 different parts. Once students decide on their 3(+) rhythms, they must write it down/notate it in a way that they will remember for next class. Their notation can be with staff and notes, or xs on a line, or whatever other visual representation the students decide will clearly and easily show their rhythms. Assess Are students improvising as a team, encouraging each other to take risks and try? Yes/No Do groups notate their composition in a way that is clear and logical? Yes/No Lesson 8: Activate Does anyone want to try to lead a rhythm circle? Can be 1-3 students. Teacher assists students as necessary if they struggle to find an idea. Acquire Today, we are going to record our rhythm circles so we can take them home and show our families! We determine an order on the whiteboard: students who want to record right away go first, those who desire more practice time can go at the end. We will have 5 minutes to practice our rhythmic circles before anyone records. Apply Students who are recording go into the hall where a supervising teacher or EA is waiting. They are shown how to hit record and stop at the right times, and reminded of how important it is not to talk or say oops etc during recording. Just try our best and have fun! Each group gets to try twice, as the rhythm circles are all less than 1 minute. Assess Teacher listens to recordings: Did students have at least 3 parts? Were the 3 parts different from one another? Teacher creates a CD from each groups best recording, and shares it with the class! Well listen to it together and discuss what we learned and what we liked in this unit! If necessary, recording may carry over into a 9th lesson, with students who have finished recording working on their notation maps to display in the classroom.

Grade 5 Music Unit Plan: The Science of Sound

Why Does The Sun Shine? The sun is a mass of incandescent gas;

A gigantic nuclear furnace! Where hydrogen is built into helium at a temperature of millions of degrees! The sun is hot; the sun is not a place where we could live! But here on earth thered be no life without the light it gives! We need its light; we need its heat; the sunlight that we see! The sunlight comes from our own Suns Atomic energy! The sun is a mass of incandescent gas a gigantic nuclear furnace where hydrogen is built into helium at a temperature of millions of degrees! The sun is hot It is so hot that everything on it is a gas: iron, copper, aluminum, and many others. The sun is large If the sun were hollow, a million earths would fit inside and yet, the sun is only a middle-sized star. The sun is far away About 93 million miles away, and that's why it looks so small. But even when it's out of sight, The sun shines night and day. The sun is a mass of incandescent gas a gigantic nuclear furnace where hydrogen is built into helium at a temperature of millions of degrees!