Becky McCoy Lesson Title: Sound – Standing Waves and Pitch Timing: 60 minutes Target Audience: 11 th and 12 th grade Physics course Objectives: Students Will Be Able To: Think about and examine how different musical instruments work. Explore tuning forks and which of their characteristics determine pitch. Serious play with filling cylindrical beakers to discover how pitch changes. Observe how the vocal mechanism can affect the quality of sound and pitch. The Teacher Will Be Able To: Provide students with opportunities to explore more about sound through interaction and observation. Assess student understanding of sound, frequency, pitch, resonance, etc. Standards Assessed: New York State Standards, Physics Performance Indicator 4.3: Students can explain variations in wavelength and frequency in terms of the source of the vibrations that produce them, e.g., molecules, electrons, and nuclear particles. 4.3a An oscillating system produces waves. The nature of the system determines the type of wave produced. 4.3b Waves carry energy and information without transferring mass. This energy may be carried by pulses or periodic waves. 4.3c The model of a wave incorporates the characteristics of amplitude, wavelength,* frequency*, period*, wave speed*, and phase. 4.3dMechanical waves require a material medium through which to travel. 4.3e Waves are categorized by the direction in which particles in a
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Target Audience:11th and 12th grade Physics course
Objectives:Students Will Be Able To:
Think about and examine how different musical instruments work. Explore tuning forks and which of their characteristics determine pitch. Serious play with filling cylindrical beakers to discover how pitch changes. Observe how the vocal mechanism can affect the quality of sound and pitch.
The Teacher Will Be Able To: Provide students with opportunities to explore more about sound through interaction and
observation. Assess student understanding of sound, frequency, pitch, resonance, etc.
Standards Assessed: New York State Standards, PhysicsPerformance Indicator 4.3: Students can explain variations in wavelength and frequency in terms of the
source of the vibrations that produce them, e.g., molecules, electrons, and nuclear particles. 4.3a An oscillating system produces waves. The nature of the system determines
the type of wave produced. 4.3b Waves carry energy and information without transferring mass. This energy
may be carried by pulses or periodic waves. 4.3c The model of a wave incorporates the characteristics of amplitude,
wavelength,* frequency*, period*, wave speed*, and phase. 4.3dMechanical waves require a material medium through which to travel. 4.3e Waves are categorized by the direction in which particles in a medium vibrate about an equilibrium
position relative to the direction of propagation of the wave, such as transverse and longitudinal waves.
4.3f Resonance occurs when energy is transferred to a system at its natural frequency.
Misconception(s) Addressed: Pitch is related to intensity. Frequency is connected to loudness for all amplitudes. Waves transport matter.
Becky McCoy
Prior Knowledge: Wave Unit and previous lessons on sound.
Aim: Explore different aspects of sound including pitch, volume, and natural frequencies.
Concept Map Vocabulary: n/a
Necessary Preparation:COPIES
Sound Worksheets Station Posters
MATERIALS Computer and projector Two different sized plastic cylinders. Water. Guitar. Tuning forks of different pitches.
SET UP Have videos loaded. Have “Beats Working” Simulation ready. Have water and cylinders prepared. Designate where around the room each station is.
Becky McCoy
Lesson Plan
Aim: Explore different aspects of sound including pitch, volume, and natural frequencies.
Physics Push-Up: KWL (5 minutes)Distribute packets and have students fill out their KWL chart individually using their notes from the last few classes.
Collect homework while this is happening.
Activity: Singing and Stations (35 minutes)Materials:
Computer and projection. Station worksheets. Station posters. Two different sized plastic cylinders. Water. Guitar. Tuning forks of different pitches.
Procedure: Notes from lecture should be taken in the notebook.
“What do you have to do in order to talk/hear?” Have students hum or sing and feel their larynx.
5 MINUTES: Show Pictures of Larynx and Palette:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gray994.png
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gray954.png
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gray956.png
Becky McCoy
The larynx is the home of the vocal folds which stretch thin and thick when they vibrate to produce different pitches. The entire larynx sits high or low in the neck to produce a different quality of sound. The palette is domed or flat to produce different reflection/resonance/quality.
“Different types of singing utilize the larynx mechanism in different ways.” CLASSICAL (Marilyn Horne): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTuNUZEFBJk
o Larynx remains low and palette high. Sound reflects through the mouth and resonates through the head. Sounds echo-y.
BELT (Defying Gravity, Idina Menzel): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3g4ekwTd6Ig (start @ 3:10)o Belt is like talking on pitch with volume added. The pallet remains flat and the larynx high.
MIX (Tonight, GLEE): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJ-XKY_WU8go Mix between both where larynx is low and palette is high, but sound is focused forward so it has
a speech-y quality.
WRITE ON BOARD: pitch = frequency & volume = amplitude
30 MINUTES: “Today we’re going to explore different aspects of sound via different stations. Each station has a poster (might be double sided) that gives directions and questions to answer. We’ll spend about three minutes in each station”
Have someone repeat the instructions.
Students count off by 9 and start at their respective stations.
STATIONS: with guiding questions posters and worksheets – 2-3 minutes each1. Filling plastic cylinders (what happens when you pour water in the big/little? what’s diff? why?
what happens when you tap on the bottom of the cylinder?)2. Guitar (why is it shaped this way? why is there a hole? what happens when strings are
tightened/loosened? why are strings different?)3. KWL 4. Tuning forks (show picture of piano keyboard w/ notes labeled and treble staff showing same
notes. use resonance box. have students identify middle c through c up the octave and note the frequencies. find the wavelengths for these frequencies in air 343 m/s. what’s the relation of the two “octaves”? why can you hear the pitch at a louder volume than the tuning fork alone?))
5. Beats (show Wolfram “Beats Working”. Identify parts of standing wave – what parts of the two pitches are interacting? draw the two waves at the anti node and the node. what would you hear at the node/antinode? try with the tuning forks.)
6. KWL7. Organ (show picture of organ pipes. have students draw them on their worksheet and draw the
standing waves in them. will longer or shorter pipes produce higher/shorter pitches?)8. Piano (picture of inside of piano. what changes about the strings? what does this change?9. KWL
Students return to table and take 1 minute to finish their KWL Chart.
Activity Summary: Light Travels Faster Than Sound! (10 minutes)Take students outside with a drum. Have some students stand with the drum and others a generous distance away. When the drum is struck, it should be obvious that the sight of the drum being struck reaches the observers before the sound.
Homework: n/a
Exit Strategy:Hand in work sheet.
Extension Activity: spend more time with the drum or revisit any video or station.
Assessment:Formative:
Student discussions in small groups and whole class Sound Worksheet responses