The Franciscan School is our Spotlight of the Week

GRADE: 2nd

PROGRAM: Sound Surprise

Scientist: Christine Martin

2nd Grade: Sound Surprise

Yesterday, I went to The Franciscan School to meet and teach some really enthusiastic second grade acoustic engineers. Acoustic engineers in second grade? That’s right, and they were “sound proof”. We experimented with tuning forks, molecule models, and sound activators. Oh my! Really? You “heard” right.

At Science Fun for Everyone! we are always striving to make our programs the best. Recently, we added in a new section to the “Sound Surprise” program. Now, we discuss and explore longitudinal waves. What are those? Sound travels in pulses, and these waves illustrate that pulsing beat. Before, we just discussed transverse waves. I didn’t quite “hear” you right, say that again? Transverse waves. Transverse waves look like the ocean’s waves and they are a tool that acoustic engineers use to visualize the sound. Wow, this is some heavy duty stuff!

Yesterday, was the first day for me to teach our new additions in the program. It’s a little nerve wracking the first time; even my “ears” began to tingle. Luckily, I was able to execute the new material without missing a “beat”. That’s a lot for a second grader, right? It is, so we used a slinky to help demonstrate and visualize what a longitudinal wave looks like. I had two volunteers stand at either end of a table, each holding one end of the slinky stretched out. One volunteer (A) kept the slinky still, while the other (B) pushed or “pulsed” the slinky in the direction towards volunteer A. We were able to see the pulse go all the way from one end to the other and then back again. Hmmm….I wonder what the back motion could represent. What’s a sound that bounces or repeats called? I don’t know. I don’t’ know. I don’t know. Wait a minute…I got it! An echo!

Speaking of echoes, I hope I can repeat this awesome experience the next time I teach at the Franciscan School!