This week, we were asked to create a lesson plan that would provide our students the opportunity to create and explore. After researching collaborative problem solving, I decided that this activity would be most beneficial if the students were able to work together and discuss their findings as they work.
2nd Grade Science: Sound – Pitch vs. Volume
Standards:
S.RS.00.11 Demonstrate scientific concepts through various illustrations, performances, models, exhibits, and activities.
S.IA.00.12 Share ideas about science through purposeful conversation.
S.IA.00.13 Communicate and present findings of observations.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.2.5 Create audio recordings of stories or poems; add drawings or other visual displays to stories or recounts of experiences when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.
Big Ideas:
Students will be able to independently use their learning to…
-Explain the various pitches that their instrument makes
-Explain the difference between volume and pitch
-Identify evidence that supports their thinking
Essential Questions:
- How did creating your own instrument help you to better understand pitch?
- How did creating your own instrument help you to better understand volume?
- How did interacting with the instruments other students made help you to better understand pitch and volume?
- How can working collaboratively with your peers help you to develop a deeper understanding of a topic?
Lesson Time: One Hour
Materials:
-Makey Makey makers kit
-Laptops
-A variety of conductive items (Ex: paperclips, marshmallows or other metallic items)
-The teacher may decide to include non-conductive items as well so the students have a chance to explore.
-Access to various Makey Makey instrument apps which can be easily found at http://makeymakey.com/apps/#goapps
-iPads with the Educreations app downloaded
* EDUCREATIONS TIPS: It is helpful to have all iPads logged into the correct Educreations account before beginning the creation process. If you don’t have a class account set up, you can always use one account on all of the iPads. Keep in mind, that doing it this way prevents the saving of drafts as the kids work so they need to rehearse before they record. Educreations videos are easy to quickly send to the students’ parents and they get rave reviews.
Direct Link Options:
https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/2543877/
http://www.nyu.edu/projects/ruthmann/CMSD/piano/
Before the Lesson:
The students were given time to explore the concepts of pitch and volume during various experiments and activities. They have also spent the year working on understanding how to work collaboratively and respectfully with one another. These skills are reinforced and there is an expectation that they complete their tasks as professional scientists.
Procedure:
Minutes 0-15
- Engage students by playing banana bongos using the app on the Makey Makey website. Check out the video below if you want a little sampling of what the kids will see!
2. Inform the students that they will be creating their own digital instrument to use as they explore volume and pitch. They will use the
3. Explain the basics of the Makey Makey kits
- Introduce each of the parts of the kit
- Remind students of the expectation that they will be positive digital citizens throughout this activity.
- Take the students step by step through clipping the alligator clips to the board & connecting the board to the computer. The Makey Makey quick start guide (click below to visit the full site) may be a helpful resource for the teacher to display as she is explaining the steps.
- Students will then create their instruments using the provided materials in their science discovery groups.
Minutes 16-30
- Students spend this time exploring and discussing the various sounds they can create with their instrument.
- They will discuss their findings as a group throughout this time.
Display the following guiding tasks to help
keep their conversations on topic:
-Play a low pitch sound
-Play a high pitch sound
-How can you change the volume of the sound?
-Does changing the volume also change the pitch?
*Teacher should be visiting each group frequently during this time.
Minutes 31-45
- Instruct students to spend five minutes collecting their thoughts and discussing their findings with their groups. We call this “Prepare to Share” time.
- Invite students to carpet for a whole group discussion.
- Discuss the findings the students came upon. Identify and clear misunderstandings.
- Invite students to demonstrate as they describe their findings.
Minutes 46-60
- Students rehearse and record their explanations using Educreations.
Video Requirements:
Identify a high pitch sound
Identify a low pitch sound
Change the volume of one of the sounds
Answer the question: Does changing the volume also change the pitch?
Bonus: Play a fun song for the audience!
- Have students save their videos with the title “NAME Sound”
- Ask for a few student volunteers to share their work.
Extension: Use the Makey Makey instruments to create a class wide band before you have the kids clean up! This could be a good transition into discussions about how sound can be helpful, pleasant, unpleasant, or harmful!
Evaluate:
Formative:
The students will have learned the basics of these concepts prior to working with the Makey Makey kits. During this time, the teacher will monitor their work during experiments and also the written work they complete in their science notebooks. The teacher will listen in to conversations that the groups are having during their Makey Makey instrument exploration to decide if guiding questions or re-teaching is necessary.
Summative:
Their final grade will be determined by the Educreations video they create. I expect that the students will provide an example of them using the Makey Makey instrument to show examples of a low pitch sound, high pitch sound, and how to change the volume. They should be able to explain that the volume of a sound can change without the pitch changing.
Rationale:
The sound concepts of pitch and volume can be extremely difficult to explain effectively which makes a hands-on approach a necessity. The activities leading up to this final activity were strongly rooted in inquiry-based learning techniques along with direct instruction to help reinforce and focus their discoveries. While researching collaborative learning, I was interested to discover that there are differences in the effectiveness of group work as a tool for encouraging academic growth for different kids based on their achievement (Sears, 2013). Low and average academic performers benefit academically from the discussion and being able to take in other ideas that they had not previously thought of. For this reason, it was most appropriate to assign this assignment to groups rather than to individuals. Beyond the academic benefits, the ability to collaborate and work with others will help them to figure out how the technology works and they can work together to solve any problems that arise. As I stated in my previous post, one piece of research found that higher achieving students do not experience the same academic benefit from collaborative learning (Sears, 2013). While this is a thought-provoking statement, I wouldn’t take the experience of working with others away from any of my students. Being able to work collaboratively and putting these children in a situation in which they need to explain their thinking and interact respectfully even when they think they are right is critical to their future success and students and people. For these reasons, I believe that creating the opportunity for all students to explore and discuss their findings is a crucial part of the discovery process and will be beneficial to all students whether it is an academic benefit or social benefit.
References
Sears, D. d., & Reagin, J. (2013). Individual versus collaborative problem solving: divergent outcomes depending on task complexity. Instructional Science, 41(6), 1153-1172.
HOW TO: Quick Start, Software. (n.d.). Retrieved April 10, 2016, from http://makeymakey.com/howto.php
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