Science Fun!

Our students have been inquiring into the physics of sound over the last three weeks.  Here are some photos and captions explaining what we have been up to!

In this photo, a group works to determine the pitch of different metallic tubes that make a simple xylophone.  Students then had to draw connections between the length of the tubes, the vibration of air particles, and the pitch.

 Here below, students create simple "water phone." Again, students must order the bottles by the pitch and discuss how sound waves flow through water and air.  They also reflected on another connection to variations in pitch.  To the right, Chloe demonstrates the cup as a resonating chamber, and changes the pitch and tension of a finishing line while sliding the cup up and down the ruler.

Left, Thiago closes his eyes and attempts to guess the order and pitch of the keys on the kalimba.  Below right, Thais and Danny observe sound waves by a tone generator.  The tone generator uses a 9-volt battery and allows students to visually experience the concepts of pitch, volume, and frequency, in relation to sound waves.  We put some small coffee beans on the amplifier to help us observe the changes.  A common misconception in grade three is that a a high pitch is the same as a loud sound, so this helps students explore this misconception and set the scientific knowledge straight! Below left, Emily and Rome use wooden sticks to explore how length affects vibrations, frequencies, and pitches.

Word walls and charts are useful graphic organizers that can help us if we forget something, or need another visual reminder about a concept.

Underneath and right, students experiment with the kalimba.

Alex presents his gong and ukelele.

Lucas muses over how exactly the harmonica vibrates.  Is there something inside it?

Julie serenades us with her lovely violin playing!

Chloe is an accomplished piano player- and she wrote an essay to tell about it!