Making Sounds: a full term of science

Ten ready-to-teach lessons for Year 2 Physical sciences. Print this pack and the term is prepared: every lesson comes with a step-by-step plan, the questions to ask, student worksheets, cut-out cards, an assessment kit and every answer.

Start here: five minutes to Monday

1. Skim the term at a glance on the next page.
2. Print the lesson you need. Each lesson is three A4 sheets: plan, worksheet, cards or tickets.
3. Gather the few everyday items under “You need” on the plan. Nothing needs a science cupboard.
4. Open the free interactive unit on your board or projector. Every plan tells you which picture to show and when.
5. Teach straight from the plan. Timings, talk prompts, misconceptions and answers are all on the one page.

No science background needed

This pack is written for the busy generalist teacher. Each plan explains the sound idea in plain words, lists the wrong ideas children often carry, and gives model answers, so you can walk in and teach it even if physics was never your subject.

Two ways to run each lesson

Every lesson works as one 60-minute block, or as two 30-minute sessions. The split point is marked in every plan. Ten lessons fill a weekly science slot for a whole term, or up to twenty shorter sessions if your timetable runs small blocks.

The term at a glance

One lesson a week for a term. Each lesson stands on the ones before it, so run them in order where you can.

How the sequence builds

Lesson 1 tunes the class in to the sounds around them. Lessons 2 to 4 find the cause: every sound is something vibrating, made in many ways, and the vibration can be felt. Lessons 5 and 6 shape the sound, louder or softer and higher or lower. Lessons 7 and 8 apply it: build an instrument, and see how the sound reaches our ears. Lesson 9 connects sound to people’s jobs, and Lesson 10 is the making task and final check.

Curriculum links (Australian Curriculum V9)

The whole term teaches the Science Understanding descriptor AC9S2U02 quoted on the cover. The lessons also work these Science Inquiry and Human Endeavour descriptors:

Assessment in this pack

• Every plan ends with “Answers and look-fors”: what meeting the idea sounds like in a Year 2 voice.
• The assessment sheet near the front has a class observation checklist and a three-level rubric.
• Lesson 10 is the summative pair: a making task plus the “Show what we know” check sheet.

Materials for the whole term

One gathering session covers all ten lessons. Everything on this page is an everyday item; nothing needs a science cupboard.

The one-trip list

• From the classroom: paper, sticky tape, string, a ruler, a comb, sticky notes, scissors.
• From the shops: rubber bands of a few sizes, a bag of rice or dried beans, paper or plastic cups, drinking straws.
• From home donations: empty tins, tubs and boxes, a spare tissue box, and a real drum or shaker if anyone has one.

Safety in one look

• Sounds stay gentle. Never bang or shout right next to a friend’s ear; very loud sounds can hurt ears.
• Rubber bands stay low and never fly at anyone.
• Rice and beans stay on the drum, out of mouths, ears and noses.
• Tidy strings and bands away so no one trips.
• Wash hands after lessons that use food items.

Assessment without extra work

The term assesses itself. Every lesson plan ends with answers and look-fors, and Lesson 10 is the summative pair: the making task plus the check sheet. This sheet is the place to jot down what you notice along the way.

The three levels

Class observation checklist

A tick a lesson is plenty; the Lesson 10 check sheet fills the gaps.

Word wall cards

Cut out the cards and build the wall as the words arrive. Lesson 1 starts the wall with sound; add vibrate and vibration in Lesson 2, and the rest as the lessons land.

Dear families

This term in science, Year 2 becomes a class of sound detectives. We pluck, tap, shake and blow to make sounds, and we look closely at what is happening each time we do.

Every investigation points to one big idea: every sound starts with something vibrating, which means wiggling very fast. No wiggle, no sound. Sound is also a kind of energy, so it can even make other things move. Your child will practise saying this in their own words all term.

Try this at home

• Rest a hand gently on your throat and hum. Can you feel the buzz? That is your voice vibrating.
• Stretch a rubber band over a cup or box and pluck it. Watch it wiggle and listen to the sound.
• Sprinkle a little rice on a tray and tap the tray beside it. Watch the rice hop.
• Find the softest and the loudest sound in your home and talk about which vibration is bigger.

What to ask your scientist

• What was vibrating to make that sound?
• How did you make it louder?
• How did you make it higher or lower?

A small safety note: we keep sounds gentle at school, and never make loud sounds close to anyone’s ears. The same care helps at home.

Warm regards,

The Year 2 team

Printed from the free seegongsik Making Sounds teaching pack · seegongsik.com/au/y2/physical/AC9S2U02/pack

Sound detectives

Children tune in to the sounds all around them, find where each sound comes from, and sort sounds as loud or soft. This lesson lays the ground for the term: before we ask how sounds are made, the class needs to stop and really listen.

We are learning to

• notice the sounds around us and stop to listen,
• say where a sound comes from, which is what made it,
• sort sounds into loud and soft.

Success criteria

• I can name some sounds and what makes them.
• I can sort sounds into loud and soft.

You need

• the sound cards (third sheet), one set per table, cut out ahead or by fast finishers,
• two sorting mats labelled Loud and Soft (a sheet of paper each is fine),
• the worksheet (next sheet), one per child,
• one quiet minute for a short listening walk: a hallway, the yard, or just the classroom.

Lesson flow (about 60 minutes)

Running two half-sessions instead? End Session A after Loud or soft. Start Session B with another quiet minute of listening, then go on the Sound hunt.

Watch for these ideas

• “Only music makes sound.” Everyday things make sounds too: a door, a footstep, a bird. Widen the net during the quiet minute.
• Sorting by liked and disliked, not loud and soft. Steer back gently: a loud sound can be lovely and a soft sound annoying; we sort by size, not by nice.
• “Soft means low and loud means high.” Not the same thing yet. Keep this lesson to loud and soft; high and low arrives in Lesson 6.

Make it easier, make it bigger

• Easier: sort just three clear cards first (a big shout, a whisper), then add the rest one at a time.
• Bigger: find a sound that is loud sometimes and soft other times, such as a voice, and explain when it is each.

Answers and look-fors

• Sounds and makers will vary. Look for the child linking a sound to a maker: “the tap was the clock”.
• Loud cards: a drum, a shout, a siren, thunder, a slammed door, a clap. Soft cards: a whisper, a page turning, a purr, sock footsteps, a ticking clock, a bee. The clap and shout are good “it depends” talking points.
• Keep the sound wall going. Each lesson adds a new sound word to it.

Sound hunt

Be a sound detective. Find three sounds. Draw or write each one, say what made it, and tick loud or soft.

Loud or soft?

Cut out the cards. Sort them onto your Loud and Soft mats. A few cards could go either way, so talk about them.

Teacher note: a clap and a shout can be loud or soft depending on how hard we do them. Those are the best cards to argue about.

Every sound is a wiggle

Children pluck stretched rubber bands and find that every sound starts with something wiggling, or vibrating, back and forth very fast. A still band is silent; only a wiggling band makes a sound. This answers the question the class held from Lesson 1: what do all sounds have in common.

We are learning to

• know a sound comes from something vibrating, or wiggling,
• see and feel a vibration,
• know that no wiggle means no sound.

Success criteria

• I can show something vibrating to make a sound.
• I can say that a still thing makes no sound.

You need

• rubber bands in a few thicknesses, a handful per pair,
• a tissue box or small tub per pair, to stretch the bands over,
• the worksheet (next sheet), one per child,
• the “what is wiggling” cards (third sheet), one set per pair, cut out ahead or by fast finishers.

Lesson flow (about 60 minutes)

Running two half-sessions instead? End Session A after Feel the buzz. Start Session B by making one band silent and one band sound, then go straight to the worksheet.

Watch for these ideas

• “Sound comes from the air, or from nowhere.” It starts with a thing wiggling. Trace each sound back to the part that moves: the band, the throat, the box.
• “If I cannot see the wiggle, it is not there.” Some wiggles are too fast or too small to see, but you can still feel them, like the buzz in your throat.
• “Stopping the wiggle does not stop the sound.” It does. Touch a rung bell or a plucked band and it goes quiet the moment the wiggle stops.

Make it easier, make it bigger

• Easier: keep it to just two states, a still band and a plucked band, until the idea is firm.
• Bigger: find three things in the room you can make wiggle to make a sound, and say what wiggles in each.

Answers and look-fors

• A still band is silent; a plucked band wiggles and makes a sound. Look for the child naming the wiggle, or vibration, as the cause.
• The throat buzzes when we hum, because the wiggle is inside us. Touching, or stopping, the wiggle stops the sound.
• Listen for “it wiggles” or “it vibrates” as the reason a thing makes a sound.

Still or wiggling?

Draw each rubber band. One is held still and one is plucked. Then answer the questions below.

What is wiggling?

Cut out the cards. Look at each thing and think what part of it wiggles to make its sound. Say it out loud, then check with your teacher.

Teacher note: the answers are drum = the skin, guitar = the string, bell = the metal, whistle = the air inside, voice = the throat, rubber band = the band. In every case a part is wiggling to make the sound.

Many ways to make a sound

Children meet four actions that make sound: tapping, shaking, blowing and plucking. Each action makes something vibrate, and each one has its own sound. In Lesson 2 we found that every sound is a wiggle. This lesson finds many ways to start that wiggle.

We are learning to

• name the four actions that make a sound: tapping, shaking, blowing and plucking,
• see that each action makes something vibrate,
• sort sound-makers by the action that plays them.

Success criteria

• I can name the four actions that make a sound.
• I can say what vibrates for each action.

You need

• empty tins or tubs to tap, one or two per table,
• a shaker: dry rice in a sealed bottle or tub,
• a comb with a strip of paper to blow through, and a ruler and a few rubber bands to pluck,
• the worksheet (next sheet), one per child,
• the action cards (third sheet), one set per table, cut out ahead or by fast finishers.

Lesson flow (about 60 minutes)

Running two half-sessions instead? End Session A after the Sound station tour. Start Session B by naming the four actions again, then move straight to the Match the action worksheet.

Watch for these ideas

• “Only hitting makes a sound.” Blowing and shaking make sounds too. Make sure every child has a turn at the blow station and the shaker so they feel it for themselves.
• “The action is the sound.” Not quite: the action makes something vibrate, and that vibration is the sound. Keep naming both the action and the thing that moves.
• “A whistle has nothing vibrating.” The air inside it is vibrating, even though we cannot see it. Compare it with the rice we can hear jumping in the shaker.

Make it easier, make it bigger

• Easier: match just two actions to their makers first, such as tap and pluck, then add the other two.
• Bigger: find one classroom object for each of the four actions, and say what vibrates in each.

Answers and look-fors

• Matching: Tap goes with a drum, Shake with a shaker, Blow with a whistle, and Pluck with a guitar string.
• What vibrates: a tap makes the drum or tin skin vibrate, a shake makes the rice or beads inside vibrate, a blow makes the air inside vibrate, and a pluck makes a string vibrate.
• Sentences: the drum skin vibrates, and every action makes something vibrate. A ruler is a good talking point, because it can be tapped and plucked. Look for the action named and what vibrates.

Match the action

Match each action to a maker. Draw a line from each action on the left to the maker it plays on the right.

Action and maker cards

Cut out the eight cards. Match each action card to the maker card it plays, then say each pair out loud.

Teacher note: lay each action beside the maker it plays: tap with a drum, shake with a shaker, blow with a whistle, and pluck with a guitar string.

Feel the vibration

Children see and feel that a sounding thing vibrates, and that its vibration can make other things move. Put a little rice on a drum and it jumps the moment the drum sounds, even though nothing touches it. This deepens the vibration idea from Lessons 2 and 3: now the wiggle does a job, it moves the rice.

We are learning to

• see and feel that a sounding thing vibrates,
• show that a vibration can make other things move,
• know that a bigger sound makes a bigger jump.

Success criteria

• I can make rice jump by making a sound.
• I can say the drum skin vibrates to move the rice.

You need

• a drum, or an empty tin with a paper or balloon lid stretched over the top,
• a spoonful of rice or dried beans,
• a ruler,
• the worksheet (next sheet), one per child,
• the feel it wiggle cards (third sheet), one set per table, cut out ahead or by fast finishers.

Lesson flow (about 60 minutes)

Running two half-sessions instead? End Session A after Ruler buzz. Start Session B by making the rice jump once more so everyone remembers it, then go straight into the worksheet.

Watch for these ideas

• “Something invisible pushes the rice.” It is the vibrating drum skin that tosses the rice up, not an unseen hand. Let them feel the skin buzz.
• “The drum only sounds, it does not move.” Its skin really does move: rest fingertips lightly on it and feel it vibrate while it sounds.
• “A quiet drum can still move the rice.” Not so: no sound means no jump. Try a silent, still drum to show the rice staying put.

Make it easier, make it bigger

• Easier: keep it to two clear cases, a quiet drum and a banged drum, before bringing in the ruler.
• Bigger: count or roughly measure how high the rice jumps for a soft tap and then a hard tap, and compare the two.

Answers and look-fors

• A quiet drum leaves the rice sitting still. A sounding drum vibrates its skin, so the rice jumps even though nothing touches it.
• A harder tap makes a bigger vibration, so the rice jumps higher. The sound energy is what moves the rice.
• Look for the child naming the cause: “the skin vibrates”, rather than an invisible push.

The jumping rice

Draw the rice on a quiet drum and on a drum that has just been banged. Show where the rice sits and how high it jumps.

Feel it wiggle

Cut out the cards. Each one is a thing you can feel wiggle while it makes a sound. Touch each one gently while it sounds and feel the tiny wiggle in your fingers.

Teacher note: these are all things to try to feel vibrate. Touch each one gently while it is sounding and feel the little wiggle. They are all soft and safe, so hands stay relaxed.

Loud and soft

Children learn that a bigger vibration makes a louder sound, and they make sounds louder and softer on purpose. It builds straight on the last lessons: a sound comes from something wiggling, and now the class changes the size of that wiggle. We stay on loud and soft here; how fast a thing wiggles, which gives high and low, waits for the next lesson.

We are learning to

• know a bigger vibration makes a louder sound,
• make a sound louder and softer on purpose,
• match a wiggle size to loud or soft.

Success criteria

• I can make a sound louder and softer.
• I can say a bigger wiggle is louder.

You need

• the rubber-band boxes from Lesson 2, one per table,
• a spoonful of rice in a cup,
• a drum or an empty tin to tap,
• the worksheet (next sheet), one per child,
• the loud and soft cards (third sheet), one set per table, cut out ahead or by fast finishers.

Lesson flow (about 60 minutes)

Running two half-sessions instead? End Session A after the Loud and soft song. Start Session B by making one soft sound and one loud sound, then go straight to the worksheet.

Watch for these ideas

• “Louder means higher.” Not yet: louder is a bigger wiggle; higher is a faster wiggle, which comes in the next lesson. Keep the two apart today.
• “You can make a sound as loud as you like and it is fine.” Very loud sounds can hurt our ears, so we keep the loudest sounds short and away from ears.
• “A soft sound has no vibration.” It has a small one. A soft sound is still a wiggle, just a little one.

Make it easier, make it bigger

• Easier: keep it to two choices, just soft and loud, and match each to a small or a big wiggle.
• Bigger: make three levels, soft, medium and loud, and draw the wiggle that goes with each.

Answers and look-fors

• A gentle pluck makes a small wiggle and a soft sound; a hard pluck makes a big wiggle and a loud sound.
• A louder tap makes the rice jump higher, because the drum skin wiggles more. Very loud sounds can hurt our ears, so we protect them.
• Listen for the child tying a bigger wiggle to a louder sound: that is the idea of the lesson.

Loud and soft

Draw the wiggle for a soft sound and for a loud sound. Remember: a bigger wiggle is a louder sound.

Circle one. Which is louder: a small wiggle or a big wiggle?

Loud or soft?

Cut out the cards. Sort each one onto your Loud and Soft mats. Then say what makes the loud ones loud.

Teacher note: sort each card onto Loud or Soft. The loud ones all use a bigger action, and a bigger action makes a bigger wiggle.

High and low

Children find a new way to change a sound. A short, tight string wiggles fast and sounds high; a long, loose string wiggles slowly and sounds low. Last lesson the class made sounds louder and softer. This time they change the same sound a different way, sliding it from high to low.

We are learning to

• know a short, tight string is higher and a long, loose string is lower,
• change a sound from high to low,
• order sounds from low to high.

Success criteria

• I can make a high sound and a low sound.
• I can say which string is higher.

You need

• rubber bands of a few lengths and thicknesses,
• a ruler,
• a box to stretch the bands over, such as an empty tissue box or a lunch box,
• the worksheet (next sheet), one per child,
• the high or low cards (third sheet), one set per table, cut out ahead or by fast finishers.

Lesson flow (about 60 minutes)

Running two half-sessions instead? End Session A after the Rubber-band guitar. Start Session B by making a high sound and a low sound with your voice, then go straight to the worksheet.

Watch for these ideas

• “High means loud.” No: high is a FAST wiggle and loud is a BIG wiggle. A sound can be high and soft, or low and loud.
• “A longer string is higher.” No: longer and looser is lower, and shorter and tighter is higher.
• “High and low mean up high and down low in the air.” Here they mean the pitch of the sound, not where it sits in the room.

Make it easier, make it bigger

• Easier: use just two bands, a short one for a high sound and a long one for a low sound.
• Bigger: order four bands from the lowest to the highest, and say what makes each one higher than the last.

Answers and look-fors

• A short, tight string is high and a long, loose string is low. A short ruler overhang is high and a long overhang is low.
• Ordering from 1 to 3: the long, loose band is lowest (1), the medium band is next (2), and the short, tight band is highest (3).
• Look for the child tying high to short, tight, and fast, not to loud.

High or low?

Twang your rubber bands and listen to the sounds. Then answer the questions below.

Circle one. Which makes a higher sound: a short tight string or a long loose string?

Now put these strings in order. Write 1 by the lowest sound, 2 by the middle sound, and 3 by the highest sound.

High or low cards

Cut out the cards. Put each card on the High pile or the Low pile. Talk about why as you sort.

Teacher note: sort each card onto High or Low. The high ones are small, short, or tight and wiggle fast; the low ones are big, long, or loose and wiggle slowly.

Make an instrument

Children design and make a simple instrument from everyday things, then make it play loud and soft and high and low, and name the part that is vibrating. This is the apply lesson of the term: it pulls together wiggling, loudness and pitch from Lessons 2 to 6, and puts a working instrument in the hands of every child.

We are learning to

• design and make a simple instrument from everyday things,
• make it play loud and soft, and high and low,
• say which part is vibrating to make the sound.

Success criteria

• I can make an instrument that makes a sound.
• I can change its sound and say what part vibrates.

You need

• small boxes and clean tins, rubber bands, and string,
• rice or dried beans, straws, paper, and sticky tape,
• the worksheet (next sheet), which is the design and build sheet, one per child,
• the build cards (third sheet), one set per table, cut out ahead or by fast finishers.

Lesson flow (about 60 minutes)

Running two half-sessions instead? End Session A after Build time and keep the instruments somewhere safe. Start Session B with the worksheet, then Play it two ways.

Watch for these ideas

• “A pretty instrument is a good one.” Looks are fun, but the test is the sound: it must make a sound the child can change.
• “Gluing on decorations makes the sound.” Decorations are just for show. The vibrating part, the band or the air, makes the sound.
• “You cannot change a home-made instrument’s sound.” You can: pluck harder for louder, and shorten or tighten the band for higher.

Make it easier, make it bigger

• Easier: make a shaker. Put a little rice in a tub, seal the lid with tape, and shake it.
• Bigger: make one instrument that plays both ways, loud and soft as well as high and low, and label the part that vibrates.

Answers and look-fors

• What vibrates: a band box because the band vibrates, a shaker because the rice hits the sides, and straw pipes because the air inside vibrates.
• Changing the sound: louder comes from plucking or shaking harder; higher comes from a shorter, tighter band.
• Look for each child naming the part that vibrates on their own instrument, not just pointing to the whole box.

My instrument plan

Plan your instrument, then build it. Write on each line as you go, and draw your plan in the box.

Build and change cards

Cut out the cards. Pick a build card and make that instrument. Once it makes a sound, try the change cards one at a time.

Teacher note: the build cards give three easy instruments to choose from. The change cards are challenges to try once the instrument is made.

Sound travels to our ears

Children learn that a sound travels from the wiggle, through the air, to our ears, and they try a cup-and-string phone. It deepens the vibration idea from earlier lessons into how a sound actually reaches us, all the way across the room.

We are learning to

• know that a sound travels from the wiggle, through the air, to our ears,
• try a cup-and-string phone,
• know that sound is energy that travels.

Success criteria

• I can say a sound travels through the air to my ears.
• I can show the string phone carries the sound.

You need

• two paper or plastic cups and a length of string for each string phone,
• a drum and a spoonful of rice for the board demonstration,
• the worksheet (next sheet), one per child,
• the journey cards (third sheet), one set per table, cut out ahead or by fast finishers.

Lesson flow (about 60 minutes)

Running two half-sessions instead? End Session A after the Cup-and-string phone. Start Session B by recalling the sound’s journey together, then hand out the worksheet.

Watch for these ideas

• “Sound jumps straight into your ear with nothing in between.” It travels through the air the whole way; the air passes the wiggle along to your ear.
• “The string phone works by magic.” No magic: the tight string carries the wiggle from one cup to the other, just as the air carries it across the room.
• “You could hear in empty space.” Keep it simple for now: sound needs air, or a string, or something to travel through.

Make it easier, make it bigger

• Easier: keep to one idea, the air carries the sound to your ears, and let them say just that.
• Bigger: try the string phone tight and then loose, and explain why the tight string works and the loose one does not.

Answers and look-fors

• The journey in order: the thing wiggles, the air carries the sound, the ear hears it. The wiggle pushes the air, and the air carries the sound all the way to the ear.
• The string phone works when the string is pulled tight, because the tight string carries the wiggle. A loose string sags and does not carry it well.
• The words “through the air” in the last sentence are the sign the big idea has landed.

The sound’s journey

Put the sound’s journey in order. Write 1, 2, and 3 in the small box on each card to show what happens first, next, and last. Then draw a small arrow between the cards.

Journey cards

Cut out the cards. Put the first three in order to show the sound’s journey, from the wiggle to the ear. The last two cards explain the string phone.

Teacher note: the first three cards put the sound’s journey in order, from the wiggle to the ear. The last two cards explain why the string phone needs a tight string.

People who make and use sound

Near the end of the term the class steps back and finds the sound science all around them in real life and at work. People make and use sound every day: musicians make music, a lifeguard blows a whistle to warn, a nurse or doctor listens to the body, phones ring and alarms wake us. We all use sound when we talk. This lesson connects the term to the wider world, and shows that your own voice is an instrument.

We are learning to

• know that people make and use sound in daily life and at work,
• match a job to the sound it uses,
• give an example of using sound, such as music, a warning, talking or listening.

Success criteria

• I can name a way people use sound.
• I can match a job to the sound it uses.

You need

• optional pictures of people using sound at work: a musician, a nurse and a lifeguard,
• the class sound wall the term has been building, to look back over,
• the worksheet (next sheet), one per child,
• the job and sound-use cards (third sheet), one set per table, cut out ahead or by fast finishers.

Lesson flow (about 60 minutes)

Running two half-sessions instead? End Session A after Match the job. Start Session B by recalling one way people use sound, then go straight to the worksheet.

Watch for these ideas

• “Only musicians use sound.” Everyone does, every day, through talking, warnings and phones. Widen the net back to the whole class.
• “Warning sounds are just noise.” A siren or an alarm is a sound doing an important job: it keeps people safe.
• “You need special tools to make sound.” Your own voice is an instrument, and we all carry one.

Make it easier, make it bigger

• Easier: match just two jobs to their sound-use, then add the rest one at a time.
• Bigger: think of a sound that keeps people safe, and explain how it helps.

Answers and look-fors

• A musician makes music with instruments; a lifeguard blows a whistle to warn; a nurse or doctor listens to the body; a phone or alarm makes a sound to call or wake us; and all of us use sound by talking.
• On the worksheet, look for a sensible line from each job to the sound it uses, not one exact wording.
• Any thoughtful example of using sound is a win: the point is that sound is part of everyone’s day.

Sound jobs

Draw a line to match each job to the sound it uses.

Match the job to its sound

Cut out the cards. Each job goes with the sound-use that fits it. Lay them out and pair each job beside its sound-use.

Teacher note: these are matching pairs. A job sits beside the sound-use that fits it: musician with makes music, lifeguard with blows a whistle to warn, nurse with listens to the body, and all of us with talk to each other.

Show what we know

The summative lesson, run as a celebration. Children make a sound with an instrument or their own voice, show the class what is vibrating and change it louder or higher, visit each other’s sounds in a gallery walk, then sit the final check sheet quietly and alone. The term closes with the on-screen quiz played as a class game. Every sound in the room tells the story the term has been telling all along: a sound is something vibrating, and we can change it.

We are learning to

• make a sound and show what part is vibrating,
• change the sound louder or softer, or higher or lower, and say how,
• show what we know on our own on the final check.

Success criteria

• I can make a sound and point to what is vibrating.
• I can change my sound and say how I did it.

You need

• the class instruments made in Lesson 7, or a makers’ table of boxes, rubber bands, rice, tins and straws,
• the term’s sound charts and word wall on show for ideas,
• the making-plan worksheet (next sheet) and the final check sheet (third sheet), one each per child,
• the interactive unit open on the board for the closing quiz.

Lesson flow (about 60 minutes)

Running two half-sessions instead? End Session A after Making and practising and keep the instruments safe on a shelf. Start Session B with the gallery walk, then the final check and the class quiz.

Watch for these ideas

• “Changes colour” or “stays still” circled in item 2 under check-sheet pressure. Quietly say: picture the plucked band from Lesson 2. What did it do? Then step back and let the child answer alone.
• Makers who decorate but cannot change the sound. Stickers are lovely, but ask: “Show me how you make it louder, and tell me what is wiggling.”
• Some children freeze at “make a sound”. Offer a start: pluck a band on a box, then pluck it harder. The plan sheet fills itself from there.

Make it easier, make it bigger

• Easier: use a ready shaker and just show it is the rice inside that makes the sound.
• Bigger: change the sound two ways (louder AND higher) and name the vibrating part for each.

Answers and look-fors

• Final check marking guide: 1 any action (tap, shake, blow or pluck). 2 it wiggles. 3 louder. 4 low. 5 looking at a drum. 6 the skin vibrates. 7 wiggles, or vibrates. 8 a sensible drawing with the vibrating part labelled.
• A score of 6 or more out of 8, together with a sound the child can make and change while naming the vibrating part, meets the descriptor. The rubric sheet near the front of the pack turns this into a three-level judgement.
• Meeting the idea at the gallery sounds like “I pluck the band, the band wiggles, and if I pull it tighter it goes higher”. Naming the vibration matters more than how pretty the instrument is.

My sound plan

Today you are the sound maker. Make a sound, show what is vibrating, and be ready to change it louder or higher.

Show what we know

Show what you know about making sounds. Read each one, then write, circle or draw. Take your time.

Teacher note: read the items aloud one at a time. The marking guide is on this lesson’s plan page; the rubric sheet near the front of the pack turns the score into a level.