PR-6171IRE Science A STEM Approach - 1st Class

Energy and Forces
NOW YOU SEE IT! NOW YOU HEAR IT!
Lesson 6
Teacher Notes
Science Inquiry Focus:
How are sounds different?
Skills Development/Working Scientifically:
• Questioning and predicting
• Observing
• Investigating and experimenting
• Analysing
• Recording and communicating
Science Learning Outcomes:
• Pupils act like scientists when they observe, ask questions
and describe changes in sound.
• People use science in their everyday lives such as when
listening to music or playing a musical instrument.
Background Information
• Sound is an invisible vibration which travels in waves,
spreading outwards from a source such as a music
player, a car engine or a musical instrument.
• The frequency of a sound is how high or low it is.
Some animals hear at frequencies higher or lower than
humans. Sounds lower than human hearing are called
infrasound, while sounds higher than human hearing
are called ultrasound.
• When vibrations are fast, a high note is heard. When
vibrations are slow, a low note is created.
• Musical instruments make sounds by being struck,
blown, plucked or by being played with a bow. Each of
these actions causes vibrations—sound.
• A musical instrument produces sound when part of it
vibrates rapidly; for example, the column of air inside a
wind instrument, the strings of a piano or violin, or the skin
of a drum all vibrate when played. The vibration of this
part of the musical instrument produces sound waves in
the air and we hear these sounds as musical notes.
• For the purposes of this lesson, it is sufficient for pupils
to acquire knowledge of the pitch (high or low) and
volume (loud or soft) of sounds of musical instruments.
Technology/Engineering/Mathematics
Links:
• Researching ideas using a website.
• Using a digital device to scan a QR
code to take an online quiz.
• Exploring properties of materials
used to design instruments and
the sounds they create.
• Referring to a simple tally or show
of hands to see which category
had the most responses.
• Using a Venn diagram to sort the
sounds that musical instruments
produce.
Assessment Focus:
• The recording sheet on page
79 may be used as a formative
assessment activity.
• The quiz used in Step 5 of the
lesson can be used as a summative
assessment activity.
Resources
• Demonstration experiment:
eight identical glasses or
glass jars, jug of water, metal
teaspoon
• BBC Bitesize website about
sound at
• Musical instruments:
xylophones, tambourines,
triangles, bells, castanets,
cymbals, scrapers
• One copy of the worksheet on
page 79 for each pupil
• Tablet computer for pupils
(optional)
• A selection of books about
sound (suitable for 1st/2nd
Class) would be useful
• Sound quiz questions at
Viewing sample
Prim-Ed Publishing – www.prim-ed.com 978-1-912760-15-2 1st Science: 77
CLASS
A STEM APPROACH