Making our own Music

We have started our science unit on sound and light. The big idea about sound for first grade is that all sound is caused by vibrations. 

Here are some pictures of us having fun making our own "head harps" with just a string held on our head, covering the opening of our ears. We plucked the string and could really hear the vibrations-- yet someone near us couldn't hear it well since it was vibrating on our own ear. We found the sound was higher or lower in pitch depending on how tightly we held the string, and on how long or short we held it.

We also made a bell sound with a coat hanger and string. Wrapping the ends of the string around our index fingers, we put our index fingers on the flap of skin in front of our ears. The sound vibrations of metal can carry on for a bit and it made an impressive "gonnnnggggg" sound when we gently swung it back and forth and tapped the hanger into things like our desks or the bookshelves. The coat hanger vibrated when it hit something and the vibrations traveled through the string, into our fingers, and into our ears. As it vibrated the sound would ring through the string and sound like chimes! We compared it to the way our classroom bell vibrates and carries on its sound for several seconds when rung. 

...Also, we watched a quick video about sound effects artists and the surprising ways they create some of the sounds we hear in movies. We did a fun energizer to try this out, trying to make the sounds to go with a muted cartoon rain storm: we rubbed our hands together (wind), patted fingers against our palm (gentle rain), clapped (rain), stomped (lightning strike), then reversed the process till the storm was over!