Lesson Planning

Teaching

• Explore how the pitch of a note can change by varying the length, size and tightness of the vibrating object.
• Record findings by making careful drawings and notes.

Activities

1. Play a humming game that explores the concept of pitch (Yrs3&4).
2. Explore a range of musical instruments and investigate how they play low and high pitched notes (Yr3&4).
3. Create a tuned musical instrument using everyday materials, recording this with an annotated drawing that labels how the high pitched notes and low pitched notes are played (Yrs3&4).
4. Explain the connection between pitch and the size of the vibrating object (Yr4).
5. Play a game to reinforce the 3 ways that pitch can be changed (Yrs3&4).

Investigation - exploring, pattern seeking, fair testing
Will audiences in the back row hear as well as audiences in the front? Devise an investigation to measure what happens to sound levels as the distance from the source increases.
Year 3 - How loud does a sound need to be, to be heard at 3 different distances? Plot as discrete data.
Year 4 - Take decibel readings of a given sound at regular distances from source. Plot as continuous data.

Vocabulary
Pitch, note, high, low, vibration, tune, instrument, sound, change