Sound Unit – Grade 1

Jun 19, 2019

Students investigate the phenomenon of kitchen drums. A musician group uses kitchen implements, including pots and pans, to play a song. How do they make loud sounds? Soft sounds? High sounds? Low sounds? How does the material or what the object touches matter in the kind of sound it can make when we hit it? This unit is structured with alternating science lessons with “create” lessons so students have multiple opportunities to explore each science concept and then link them together over time. Ultimately, the models students develop can be of other sound-related phenomena to see that the same big science ideas about sound help us explain the kitchen drums that help us understand other sound phenomena such as why we can hear cars outside or why we need to use soft footsteps when walking in the hallway.

Learn More
  • Modeling example, individual: 1st grader Grace quickly models her thinking on a whiteboard of how a string phone works (or doesn’t work) to move sound from one person to another in a one-on-one with the teacher (2 minutes – YouTube)
  • Modeling example, discussion: 1st graders in this class share and discuss models from classmates to compare ways they showed sound in their investigation of stomping, clapping, and knocking (8 minutes – YouTube)

 

Storyline

This curriculum guide provides an outline of a unit on sound energy for grade 1. During the initial elicitation of students’ ideas, many ideas and topics may be brought up by students. Use these examples as avenues for investigations and developing understanding. Modifications to this outline are essential to being responsive to your students’ learning.

Central to this unit are the ideas that students offer in their attempts to explain the anchoring phenomenon. By honoring multiple types of talk and eliciting student ideas, the teacher can identify touchpoints of students’ ideas and examples that become the focus for later investigations and activities. The explanation of the anchoring event can also be turned toward identifying problems with sound that students and their communities experience. This opens avenues to engineering solutions that address relevant issues that may be related to critical and political elements.

Students investigate the phenomenon of creating kitchen drums with pots and pans. A musician uses kitchen implements, including pots and pans, to play a song in a concert hall. How do they make loud sounds? Soft sounds? High sounds? Low sounds? How does the material or where the object is matter in the kind of sound it can make when we hit it? Students use investigations of force, volume, vibrations, and materials to design, build, and play their recycled instruments.

This unit is structured by alternating investigations and data discussions plus modeling with “create” lessons so students have multiple contexts to explore each science concept and link them together over time. Ultimately, the models students develop can be of other sound-related phenomena to see that the same big science ideas about sound help us explain the kitchen drums that help us understand why we can hear cars outside or why we need to use soft footsteps when walking in the hallway.

Equity

What the curriculum does well…

  • Opportunities for surfacing and supporting students’ sensemaking over time through discussions and modeling-to-explain about their own experiences with noise and sound and their shared experiences (investigations, readings, videos, discussions) as a classroom learning community. Look for these icons in the curriculum. (Supporting Student Sensemaking) 
    • Model to explain
    • Public charts 
    • Share and discuss 
    • Partner talk
  • Invites students to grow their identities as both musicians and scientists as students encode rhythms and melodies for partners to play with their recycled instruments (Supporting Multiple Identities)

What needs to be done to be justice-focused… 

  • Students will bring up their experiences with sound, music, and noise during this unit which are rich for productive conversations and/or modeling opportunities. Adjust or add learning tasks based on students’ experiences and interests related to sound.
  • Ableism & Sound sensitivity – Some students may be deaf, hard of hearing, or sound sensitive or know someone who is. This can be a bigger thread in the unit if students are interested in learning more about caring for and communicating with members of their community. For example, what are some ways to allow everyone to experience a concert or musical performance?
  • Sound pollution for humans- can be tricky for students living or learning in such conditions, can leverage this problem if it arises in conversation, particularly during class time when students need to be quieter or louder depending on the activity.

These critiques are starting places. Adapt tools and resources within this unit and add or change activities based on ideas your students bring up in class, and critique our critiques!

Stories

Connecting within our community. Students made a variety of instruments in this unit and invented agreed-upon ways to record music/rhythms of their compositions. They swapped their compositions with other students who then played their partner’s composition. Besides the visible excitement of students seeing and hearing their pieces played by others, this integrated well with music lessons in their specialist time. Students brought their instruments to music class to continue composing and performing music with each other. “We’re doing music in science!” ~ 1st grader. This created an opportunity to bring in family members to share their music/sound-related careers – radio show host; house party DJ; audiologist.

Photo: Student composed a rhythm with their balloon bongo with beans inside such that s = shake, t = tap the top, p = pinch and pluck the balloon.

Teacher Educators & Professional Learning

Downloads

Slides for a presentation to introduce teachers to Ambitious Science Teaching practices and unit design using this grade 1 unit PL intro with Sound Unit Grade 1 – 3 hour introduction

Design Considerations

If you are using this curriculum as a part of professional learning or teacher education, here are a few considerations

  • The downloadable documents are extensive and can overwhelm even experienced teachers. Consider breaking down the document and sequencing it so teachers can see how the unit unfolds over many periods. During an exploration of the curriculum, provide plenty of opportunities for teachers to think of alternative activities and ways they might improvise to accommodate novel student ideas. 
  • Throughout a unit, many ideas and aspects of sound and energy will be explored. How might teachers support students in tracking, organizing, sharing, and co-authoring their understanding of the concepts? Consider using the RSST tool to track student ideas.

Equity Questions for Teacher Reflection

  • If students are unable to draw out their ideas about sound, how might you support them in explaining in words what they think is happening?
  • Are there any local or more relevant examples of sound waves interacting with objects that you can use to replace a singer breaking glass?
  • During this unit, how will you develop a class culture that encourages students to offer their own ideas, examples, and explanations related to the unit?

 

 

Research and NGSS

  • Related Resources: OER curriculum: Great First Eight https://greatfirsteight.org/ – OER K-2 curriculum rethinking school day structures for integrated cross-content learning (see Grade 1 Sound Unit where students create sound effects to use in read-aloud stories)
  • NGSS Grade 1 Sound Waves

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This site is primarily funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) through Award #1907471 and #1315995