Sound and its properties, final activity

Unit: Sound and its properties
Music 1st ESO
Teacher: Francisco Prendes

1. Learning outcomes

• To be able to describe different sounds using appropriate terms
• To state that sound is caused by vibrations
• To state that sound needs a medium to travel through and it can be solid, liquid or gas
• To be able to use the terms 'frequency' and 'amplitude' in describing sound waves
• To be able to compare and interpret wave forms in terms of pitch and loudness
• To explain simple how the ear works
• To understand that the loudness of sound is measured in decibels
• To understand that loud sounds over a period of time can cause deafness To give possible solutions to noise pollution

2. Subject Content

• Sound and its properties: Pitch, duration, intensity and timbre
• How sound is produced: waves and its characteristics
• How the ear works: the human hearing range
• Noise pollution: Hearing loss and hearing protections

3. Language Content / Communication

3.1. Vocabulary:

Nouns:
Pitch, duration, intensity, timbre, ear, music, silence, sound, noise, eardrum, ear canal, ossicles, wave, vibration, medium, vacuum, frequency, amplitude, loudness, decibel, deafness, pollution, hearing

Verbs:
Listen, hear, vibrate, compare, pollute, promote, reduce, install, prevent

Adjectives:
High, low, loud, quiet, soft, smooth, deaf

Prepositions:
Through

3.2. Structures:

• Use the adjectives related to the topic (high, low, loud, quiet) in their comparative forms.
• Use will and won't to make predictions.
• Use modal verbs to express probability.
• Express certainty and make logical deductions.
• Express personal opinions.

4. Activities:
This unit is thought to take six lessons.

Lesson 1:
Warm up activity (20'): Is it Music? Students will listen to several audio files and they have to decide if it's music or not. (All the audio files have been taken from youtube videos: http://goo.gl/r6ebCR)
Debate (10')
Handouts about sound (20'): Read the contents (http://goo.gl/5inxR5) and answer the questions (http://goo.gl/oSltqE)

Homework:
Use the information given to complete the following activities:
1. Fill in the blanks (created with educaplay): http://en.educaplay.com/en/learningresources/1363841/sound_and_its_properties.htm
2. Matching activity (created with educaplay): http://en.educaplay.com/en/learningresources/1364050/sound_parameters.htm

Lesson 2:
Warm up activity: What is a sound? (5') (http://quizlet.com/_pxz1d)
Sound properties (videos and debate) (10'):
The human hearing range (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G9Q-r2leyw)
The mosquito sound activity (compare the frequency range of sounds of different animals) (10') (http://www.wildmusic.org/en/aboutsound/mosquito)
Auditory discrimination activities (20'):
Name that sound (video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2F7rElPibA
Audio memory, Wild Music: http://www.wildmusic.org/en/animals/audiomemory
Name that sound: http://ia600406.us.archive.org/5/items/AplicacionesMusicalesEnFlash2008-2009/cartas.swf

Lesson 3:
Presentation related to the hearing process (matching words to images, fill in the gaps, label the image) (25') (Presentation: http://goo.gl/wV2fHb) (Activities: http://goo.gl/6ucXE5)(Audio file: http://goo.gl/zuMFQt)
How the ear works:
video – listening activity (15') (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AejKSDozgg)
Interactive ear tool (http://www.amplifon.co.uk/interactive-ear/index.html)
Video: loud and quiet (10') (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlPQ49ahDLE)

Lesson 4:
How loud is too loud: debate (10') (http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/staticresources/images/SoundRuler2011.swf) (Image to be commented on: http://goo.gl/yS9T2x)
Review activity (created with educaplay): http://en.educaplay.com/en/learningresources/1364228/i_like_to_sing.htm
Reading: Article about hearing loss (10') (http://www.hear-it.org/medical/clone-loud-music-damages-nerves-brain)
Deafening sound: video (10') (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGj-cdn2M9o)
What can we do to prevent hearing loss, debate (10')
How to use a sound meter, possible applications (10') (https://itunes.apple.com/es/app/decibel-10th/id448155923?mt=8&ls=1
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=kr.sira.sound&hl=es)

Homework: create a sound map

Lesson 5:
Create a comic using PIXTON, instructions for the task (http://goo.gl/XnzKx2)
How to use Pixton, tutorial (http://goo.gl/Z6DpLd)

Lesson 6:
Presentation of the comics
Test


5. Evaluation (assessment instruments)

• There will be a test at the end of the unit.
• Class work will be graded (listening, reading, speaking activities, group work)
• Homework: sound map.
• Project: Comic about noise pollution.

Link to the Unit in pdf: http://goo.gl/qQ6Pmx

Icebreaker activity: Getting to know each other

He creado este vídeo, en el que participan l@s alumn@s de 1º ESO A, para compartirlo en nuestro Proyecto Etwinning "Let's Speak Music". Se trata de una actividad muy motivadora que utilizo al comienzo de cada curso escolar y que hace que, poco a poco y sin darse cuenta, l@s alumn@s interioricen el patrón rítmico de cuatro tiempos tan habitual en la música actual.
Tuve la ocasión de aprenderla en uno de los talleres que Javier Romero ofreció en Asturias (http://www.percusion-corporal.com/es/)

What's in an opera, the Project keeps growing

L@s alumn@s están trabajando en grupo y preparando sus presentaciones. A lo largo de la semana han dedicado dos sesiones de la materia de Inglés a buscar, recopilar y organizar la información en el aula de informática (utilizando los recursos disponibles en el Symbaloo)

Además, con el fin de profundizar en el vocabulario que deberán conocer y utilizar en sus presentaciones, hemos preparado una serie de actividades para realizar tanto en clase como en casa.

Éstas son las actividades diseñadas para trabajar durante la clase de Música (elaboradas con Free Puzzlemaker) Para completar la actividad hemos visto y comentado el vídeo New to opera? de la serie Met in Schools.

Éstas son las actividades diseñadas para seguir profundizando en el tema en casa (diseñadas con Quizlet)

Aplicaciones educativas

A lo largo de la última semana en el curso Uso de Recursos Educativos Abiertos para el aprendizaje integrado de contenidos y lenguas extranjeras (AICLE) se nos ha planteado el desafío de utilizar herramientas TIC para elaborar nuestros propios recursos AICLE.
Entre las muchas posibilidades ofrecidas yo he escogido dos aplicaciones para la creación de ejercicios interactivos que ya conocía pero que no había utilizado, y ambas me han sorprendido por su fácil manejo y el resulado final que se obtiene:
Educaplay te ofrece la posibilidad de crear recursos muy variados. Yo he probado tres de ellos:
Completar frases (fill in the gaps activity): Sound and its properties.
Relacionar palabras (matching game): Sound parameters.
Videoquiz (interesante recurso que te permite insertar preguntas en cualquier vídeo): I like to sing.

Quizlet es una aplicación interesantísima para trabajar el vocabulario específico de la materia. Mi actividad se titula Sound y consiste en unir 10 términos relacionados con el tema con sus respectivas definiciones. Una vez que has creado la actividad se plantean muchas posibilidades para su aplicación didáctica (cards, learn, speller, test, scatter or race), aunque tal vez lo más interesante es que la aplicación te permite escuchar tanto la palabra como la definición con una pronunciación y un acento más que razonable.

What's in an opera

What's in an opera es el título de una actividad conjunta (Música/Inglés) que hemos iniciado con nuestro alumnado de 2º ESO.
El proyecto de investigación supone la organización del trabajo cooperativo (en grupos pequeños de 4 ó 5 alumn@s) y la búsqueda de información. Tras un proceso de trabajo de dos semanas, nuestr@s alumn@s tendrán que realizar una presentación sobre una de las óperas seleccionadas.

What's in an opera is the title of a cross-curricular activity we have just started in my school. I'm working together with the Literacy teachers and the 2nd ESO students.
Group investigation will involve cooperative organization and research for small (4/5 students) groups. At the end of a two-week learning process they will give a presentation about one of the operas selected.

Document for students

This is the symbaloo we have created to help them during the process (click on the image to open it):

Storify

According to Wikipedia: "Storify is a social network service that lets the user create stories or timelines using social media such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Storify was launched in September 2010, and has been open to the public since April 2011."

This is my first activity using Storify: https://storify.com/FPVMus/opera-project