Sounds in the environment
In the infant and junior classes children should explore sounds in their environment and be able to distinguish and describe them. Activities to encourage children to listen to sounds will include guessing games in which they try to identify the sounds made by hidden objects in a container. Children can go on a 'sound walk' around the school and school environs. They can record the sounds they hear through pictorial records or by making their own audio recordings.
Sound and music
It will be important that the work on sound be linked to the music curriculum. Children should develop listening skills and distinguish between loud and soft, high and low sounds. Access to a range of different musical instruments can help children to consider how sounds are made. They should explore the different ways of playing musical instruments, by plucking, tapping, blowing and shaking. Children should also make their own instruments from reclaimable domestic waste.
Sound and vibrations
Sound is made when something vibrates. Children should find different things that vibrate, for example rulers, rubber bands, metal hangers or the spokes of a bicycle wheel. They can be challenged to discover the factors affecting the sound produced by a rubber band or guitar strings. They will discover that the thickness, length and tension of the rubber band (or string) will affect the pitch of the note produced. They may discover that higher sounds can be made with thin, short strings and that lower sounds can be made with heavy or longer strings.
Materials that transmit sound
In the middle and senior classes children will develop their understanding of the nature and properties of sound. Many children think that sound travels only through air. They will be guided to discover that sound can travel through solid substances, gases and liquids. They can make string telephones to demonstrate that sound travels through solids. The children can discover that liquids such as water transmit sound by listening to the fizzing sound of an Alka- Seltzer tablet that is placed in water. Other materials, such as wooden dowelling, metal rods, plastic and copper piping, can be investigated for their effectiveness in transmitting sound.
Links to environmental issues
Work on the nature of sound can lead to the discussion of noise pollution. The children can discuss the issues of loud sounds that are unpleasant and may cause damage to ears and hearing. An audit of sounds in the locality can be carried out. Children can investigate ways of controlling loud sounds. They should explore ways of muffling sounds, for example wrapping a clock, radio or 'talking' toy in different materials, such as pieces of foam, fabric, paper, cotton wool and polystyrene. Links to previous activities can be made. Children will know that sound travels through solid objects better than through air. They will discover that materials with air holes (porous materials) absorb sounds and will make better sound insulators than materials such as metal or wood, which reflect sounds.
Exemplars
Exemplar 23 outlines an activity that pupils can undertake to explore how the tension, thickness and length of a rubber band can affect its pitch.
Exemplar 24 illustrates how children can compare and measure the effectiveness of different materials in insulating against sounds.
EXEMPLAR 23 - Sound (third and fourth classes)
EXEMPLAR 24 - Sound insulators (fifth and sixth classes)