Grade 6 (Lesson 4c/2015/2016) : Wild Child and Stomp (Los Angeles, California)

The Science of Sound

In the scene where Wild Child and Fraser are riding their bikes, we hear the sounds of bells ringing and cards flapping against spokes. When Wild Child rides off the end of the pier into the water, the medium through which the sounds are traveling changes from air to water.

In this section we will explore how sound is generated, how it travels through a medium like air or water, and how it is received by the amazing apparatus we studied in the last section, the ear. 

Objective

Students learn how sound is generated and received, as well as why sound is so important for communication.

Materials

• A music element (or some other sound generating device) 
• A drinking glass

Procedure

1. Ask your students to take turns reading the Science of Sound description. 

• Ask them to sit quietly and listen to any sounds that they can hear, both inside and outside the school. 
• Ask them to make a list of sounds they hear, with an arrow pointing in the direction from which they think the sound is coming. 
• After five or ten minutes, make a list on the blackboard of the sounds that the students heard, and where they came from. 

      2.  Wind up the music element and hold it in the palm of your hand as it plays. Can any of             your students hear it?

• Now place it on a desk and let it play. Now can they hear it?
• Try different surfaces and materials, such as a drinking glass or a plastic cup. 

Further study Underwater acoustics

• How is our hearing different underwater?
• Do fish have “ears” and how do they “hear” underwater?