Lesson 1

Project Goals

• Classify sound sources by loudness;
• Make a harmonica.

Teacher’s Guide

• Each student works individually;
• Make a brief overview of the theoretical part;
• Then proceed to the practical part;
• At the beginning of the lesson, explain the PBL (project based learning) rubrics to students. 4K skills (critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, presentation).

• Before starting a lesson, the teacher is advised to familiarize himself with the safety precautions. If necessary (in the case of using the items specified in the TB), conduct a brief briefing for students. Follow this link  Safety in Steam Lessons

Theoretical part

We distinguish sounds around us by volume. A soft whisper-like sound will be quiet and pleasant to the ears. The loud sound of a jet engine can damage your ears and cause hearing loss. Even medium-loud sounds can damage your ears if you listen to them for a long period. For this reason, it is recommended that you do not listen to loud music or turn on your headphones too loudly.

In the example of musical instruments, you can see what determines the degree of volume. For example, the harder we hit the drum, the louder the sound. This means that the loudness of a sound depends on the force acting on the object emitting the sound. Let’s check this in practice by making lipstick.

Can you name the best-selling musical instrument in the world? If you said “harmonica”, then you are right! The accordion is said to have been patented in 1821 by Christian Buschmann, a 16-year-old German boy. It has since become the best-selling instrument in the world and a household item in many places. Fortunately, creating beautiful noise is not just an art, it is also a science! In this tutorial, you will build and explore your harmonica-like instrument made from household items.

Practical part

1. First, prepare the necessary materials.

2. Stretch a wide rubber band along one of the craft sticks. You can make flat edges to hold the elastic.

3. Use scissors to cut four pieces of straw, each up to 4cm long.

4. Place one of the pieces of straw under the rubber band perpendicular to the stick, about 5cm from the left side of the craft stick. This is Straw 1.

5. Place the second piece about 5cm from the right side of the stick, under the elastic band. This is Solo 2.

6. Place another piece of straw on top of the rubber band to the right of Straw 1. This is Straw 3.

7. Place the last piece to the right of straw 2, over the rubber band. This is Straw 4.

8. Straws 1 and 4 should be closest to the ends of the stick, while straws 2 and 3 should be in the middle.

9. With the help of an adult to help you hold the straws in place, place the second craft stick on top of the first, creating a sandwich with straw pieces between the craft sticks.

10. Secure this sandwich by wrapping a small rubber band about 4cm from each end of the sticks. The ends of the sticks should be clamped together with the small space between them created by the straws.

11. To begin, move straws 1 and 4 as close as possible to the ends of the craft stick. You can move the straws around by gently moving them back and forth, but be careful not to pull them out of the sandwich!

12. Move straws 2 and 3 apart so that there is a distance of about 6 cm between them.

13. Hold your instrument like a sandwich, with one hand carefully holding each end. Try to keep your fingers on the small rubber bands on both sides.

14. Blow through the hole between the sticks as if it were a harmonica (don’t blow through straws!).

To listen to the harmonica sound, click on the blue link.

15. Move straws 2 and 3, which are in the middle, closer to each other, to different distances.

16. Еще раз, продуйте через свой инструмент. Обратите внимание на звук и ощущения в ваших руках. Звучит ли иначе, чем в первый раз, когда вы играли в нее? Если да, то каким образом? Ощущается ли вибрация инструмента как-то по-другому?

17. Move straws 2 and 3 closer together again, and experiment.

18. Remove the two straws in the middle of 2 and 3. Try blowing through your instrument. Does it sound different than the last time you played it? If yes, how? Does the vibration of the instrument feel any different?

19. Try moving the remaining straw and observe how this affects the tone of the sound.

Conclusion

Can you change the tone of the sound by moving the straw? The sound your instrument makes is the sound made by a rubber band vibrating when air passes through it, just like a violin string vibrates when a violinist plays it. When you blew through your instrument, you may have noticed that you can feel vibrations through the stick. Also, you may have noticed that you can change the tone of the sound by moving the straws. When you moved straws 2 and 3 closer together, the vibrating part of the rubber band became shorter and the pitch of the sound became higher. The shorter part of the rubber band vibrates faster, and our ears perceive it as a higher-pitched sound.

On this project, each student will be awarded the STEAM title in three categories:

– You managed to explain the origin of sound and the obstacles in sound, you are a real scientist – a future physicist!
– You learned the tools yourself and were able to create one, you can become a real blacksmith – instrument maker!
– You managed to distinguish the sound of hidden instruments, and you can become a music lover – a future music critic!