STC Program: Sound Two-Use Unit Kit, 3rd Edition

In Sound, students use tuning forks, slide whistles, strings, and other sound-producing objects to investigate the characteristics of sound. Students discover that sound is caused by vibrations, and they experiment with vibrating air columns, strings, and rulers. Through their experiments, students are able to relate pitch and volume to the frequency and amplitude of the vibrations. Once students understand the mechanics of sound, they learn how it travels. The human ear is integral to sound, and students build a model eardrum to learn how the ear functions and how to protect ears from sound. Students apply what they have learned by designing and building their own musical instruments. This activity not only assesses how much information students learned during the unit, but also examines their ability to develop and execute a plan and communicate what they built and why they built it.