Lesson L1: Good vibrations
Starter activities
Capture interest (2)
· tuning fork(s)
· large rubber bung
· hollow wooden box (if teacher’s bench does not produce a good sound when fork is held on it)
· Petri dish half-full of water
· overhead projector or ping-pong ball with a wire loop glued to it and hung by cotton thread from a stand
Main activities
L1a Seeing sounds
· Microphone and CRO, which should be adjusted so that a stable trace is seen when you ‘lah’ into the microphone – most of the controls will be on the default value, the voltage gain (y-gain on some models) will need adjustment, and the timebase set on about 1 millisecond per division.
· A sound sensor (set on waveform, not loudness) if it is available, datalogger and computer to display the waveforms could be used instead.
· Musical instruments, such as recorder, whistle, mouth organ. Pupils could be asked to bring in instruments.
Lesson L2: Passing through
Starter activities
Capture interest (1)
· two thin plastic cups (or tin cans with holes in base)
· string
Main activities
L2b Bell in a bell jar
For the class:
· bell in bell jar apparatus – good seal to base plate is needed
· power supply for bell, unless hand bell
· vacuum pump
· safety screen
Lesson L3: Hearing the sound
Starter activities
Capture interest
· model ear
Main activities
L3a Modelling the eardrum
Per group:
· plastic cup
· cling film
· sticky tape
· scissors
· mirror
L3b Ranges of sound
For the class:
· signal generator
· loudspeaker
· connecting leads
Lesson L3 Investigate: How well can we tell where sound comes from?
Starter activities
Introduce the apparatus
· blindfold
Main activities
L3d Investigate: How well can we tell where sound comes from?
For each group:
· blindfolds
· metre rules or measuring tapes
· possibly a flipchart or other large sheets of paper to stand on, circular protractors, marker pens
· Skill sheet 23: Checklist for investigation.
Lesson L4: Turn it down!
Main activities
L4a Measuring sound levels
Per group or class:
· sound meter or sound sensor and datalogger
· tape measure
L4b Sound insulation
For each group:
· beeper, e.g. beeping stopwatch
· box, e.g. small child’s shoebox
· sound insulation materials to compare, e.g. bubble wrap, cotton wool, packing material, corrugated cardboard, another box (so one box fits inside the other), towelling, tissues, aluminium foil, newspaper – about six examples
Lesson L5: Detect it
Main activities
L5a Gathering information
· Signal generator, connected to speaker and CRO (adjusted as in L1a).
· Ammeter in circuit with two cells and two bulbs connected in parallel.
· Three thermometers clamped in separate beakers of water – one initially very hot, one initially at 50°C, and one in an ice/water mixture.
· Spring clamped at top, Newton meter that will give reading when it is used to stretch spring by 5cm.
· Light meter, filters, bulb (e.g. ray box and power supply), black paper.
· Two magnets glued in sealed flat opaque box (e.g. OHP transparency box), plotting compass, white paper.
· Light probe, datalogger, with graph of results displayed.
· Sound probe, datalogger, with graph of results displayed.
· Temperature probe, datalogger, radiant heater, rule/tape/paper graduated in distances, with graph of results displayed.
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This list is in Microsoft Word, so it can be customised to fit each school’s requirements.