Hands-on Activity Strum Along with Shoebox Stringed Instruments:
Sound or Music?

Learning Objectives

After this activity, students should be able to:

• Manipulate a homemade instrument to change the pitches produced and work together as part of a class to make a song.
• Create an instrumental song to demonstrate an understanding of the relationships between changing physical components and frequency.

Educational Standards

Each TeachEngineering lesson or activity is correlated to one or more K-12 science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) educational standards.

All 100,000+ K-12 STEM standards covered in TeachEngineering are collected, maintained and packaged by the Achievement Standards Network (ASN), a project of D2L (www.achievementstandards.org).

In the ASN, standards are hierarchically structured: first by source; e.g., by state; within source by type; e.g., science or mathematics; within type by subtype, then by grade, etc.

NGSS: Next Generation Science Standards - Science

Common Core State Standards - Math

International Technology and Engineering Educators Association - Technology

State Standards

Materials List

Each student needs:

• 1 empty shoebox, the kind with separate lids (ask students to bring some from home)
• 5-6 rubber bands, thick and thin
• scissors
• stapler
• Strum Along Worksheet

Worksheets and Attachments

Pre-Req Knowledge

Basic concepts of sound, as presented in the Sounds Like Music associated lesson.

Introduction/Motivation

(Play some music to spark students' interest, perhaps by playing a song on a guitar, asking the music teacher to play some guitar music, or play some other pre-recorded music that features guitars and/or stringed instruments. For example, a track of a recording by the L.A. Guitar Quartet is available for $0.99 from Apple iTunes at http://www.itunes.com.)

Listen to this. (Play the guitar music.) Today, you will individually - and as a group - create something similar to this. Let's get started!

Procedure

Before the Activity

• Gather materials and make copies of the Strum Along Worksheet, one per student.
• Snip each rubber bank in one place so it becomes just a strip of rubber.
• At each student's desk, leave a shoebox, about 6 snipped rubber bands, stapler and scissors.

With the Students

1. Have students remove the tops off their shoeboxes; they will not be used for this activity.
2. Staple one end of one rubber band to a side of the box using three staples. Do this for two more rubber bands, all lined up next to each other.
3. Then hold the other end of a rubber band against the opposite end of the open shoebox and pluck the rubber band. What do you hear? Experiment with pulling the band tighter and looser to see how that changes the sound.
4. After experimenting, find three pitches that you are happy with and staple the ends of the three rubber bands to the other side of the open box using three staples per end.
5. Now students have created their own stringed instruments! Direct students to work in groups of two or three to create a recognizable song using the instruments they just constructed.
6. Re-stapling may be required to make the pitches of the boxes more "compatible."
7. Have each instrumental group present its "song" to the class.
8. Have the rest of the class guess what song was being attempted.
9. Hand out and have students complete the Strum Along Worksheet.

Vocabulary/Definitions

frequency: The number of complete cycles of a periodic process occurs per unit time.

music: Organized sounds.

sound: Vibrations transmitted through a medium, with frequencies in the range audible to humans.

vibration: A rapid motion of a particle or solid about a central position.

wavelength: The distance between two consecutive "peaks" or between two consecutive "valleys" in a series of waves.

Assessment

Pre-Activity Predictions

• What does the length of the rubber band have to do with the sound that the rubber band makes? Have them make a prediction. (Answer: Pitch)
• What will change if you pull the rubber band harder? Have them make a prediction. Answer: Volume)
• What is the difference is between sound and music? Explain. (Answer: Music is organized sound.)

Activity Embedded Questions

• What does the length of the rubber band have to do with the sound that the rubber band makes? How accurate was your prediction?
• What changes when you pluck the rubber band strongly vs. softly?
• Have students complete the Strum Along Worksheet, which involves a graphing exercise to emphasize the concepts above.

Post-Activity Assessment

• Did students make a cohesive and understandable song? If yes, then they have a good understanding of how the length of the rubber band affects the pitch produced.
• Can students explain the difference between music and sound?
• Did their worksheets indicate that they understand the relationship between the force applied to the rubber band and the volume? Could they relate the concept to energy and amplitude and express it mathematically?

Investigating Questions

• What are some of the differences between sound and music?
• Is changing pitch the only thing that can be changed to make music? What else can be changed?
• Does pulling the rubber band tighter differ from shortening the rubber band? In what way?
• Does the thickness of the rubber band matter?
• Does applying more force to the rubber band when you pluck it cause any noticeable (or audible) changes?

Safety Issues

• Rubber bands may snap, but using three staples to secure each end helps to prevent this.
• The teacher may want to perform the stapling.

Activity Extensions

Turn the shoeboxes upside down to turn the plucked instruments into percussive instruments. Conduct a similar experiment to examine the relationship between beats and rhythm by challenging students to create songs using only rhythms. Ask them what they think the difference is between a single beat caused by hitting the shoebox and a longer rhythm (teacher can beat a simple rhythm). In general, music is made of organized sound, while rhythm is made of organized beats.

Activity Scaling

• For older students (7th graders), have them examine the length of the rubber bands further. Have them precisely measure and cut different lengths of rubber bands, then document these lengths and explore whether length is the only factor in influencing the note the rubber band produces. Tension and thickness of the rubber band both influence the note the rubber band produces.
• For younger students (5th graders), exaggerate the different notes in order for students to notice them. To do this, make sure students choose rubber band lengths that are at least 2-inches different from each other. Another way to exaggerate the difference between rubber bands is by pulling one tightly while leaving the other alone.

Copyright

Contributors

Supporting Program

Acknowledgements

This content was developed by the MUSIC (Math Understanding through Science Integrated with Curriculum) Program in the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University under National Science Foundation GK-12 grant no. DGE 0338262. However, these contents do not necessarily represent the policies of the NSF, and you should not assume endorsement by the federal government.