Can you hear me now?



What do all of these things have in common?  Why, they were used in a science experiment, of course!

My students are studying sound right now, a topic I'm thrilled to be covering with them as it is one I also teach at home.  The past couple of weeks though, I did something very different: I let the students plan their own experiment!  I gave the kids some ideas and some pointers, but in small groups, they planned their own experiments.  

We were investigating the best material for soundproofing, or muffling, a sound.  The students had to brainstorm for ideas about what types of materials they thought might be best and then what types of materials we had access to.  They had a wide range of ideas from glass to water to metal to flannel.  Planning carefully each step of the experiment, how they would keep everything but the material the same, pupils spent several lessons planning.  They wrote step by step instructions, lists of materials and ideas about which ones would work best.

The students were provided with a buzzer that made noise and as many of the materials as I could provide.  We went out on the playground (basketball court) to test our theories this morning.  Each group turned on their buzzer and chose one person to walk backwards until he/she could not hear it any longer, just to test at first.  Then, they did the same experiment with three different materials.  Some of the pupils covered their ears with fabric, bags of water, sponges, plastic cups and even foil while others covered the buzzer with glass jars, paper bowls, plastic bags and even canvas pencil cases.  The students walked backwards as far as they could go until they could no longer hear the buzzer and then marked the spot on the playground with chalk.

Any predictions?  For our experiments, glass was the clear winner for the best soundproofing material we had on hand.  

Despite the sub-freezing temperatures outside this morning, the students worked extremely hard, cooperated well and most importantly, properly implemented the design they had created.  I couldn't have been more proud of them!

I wonder what people thought of all of those marks on the playground this afternoon...

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