Monitoring Noise Levels with a Smart Device

Each group needs:

• smart phone or tablet with a noise monitoring app such as the following:
• • A free noise-monitoring app for Android devices is Decibel Pro: dB sound level meter
  • An $8 app for Android devices is Audio Tool, which is optimal if you have a high-quality sound level meter that you can use to calibrate each smart device; this app is purchased for use on school tablets; the app only needs to be purchased once; by logging into the appropriate Google account, the app can be loaded onto all tablets
  • A $10 app for Apple devices is SPL Graph
• (optional) external microphone, to connect to smart phone or tablet
• stopwatch
• computer with Excel® or other spreadsheet software
• Physics of Sound Worksheet (PDF), one per student
• Observations Worksheet (PDF)
• Data Analysis Worksheet (PDF)
• Physics of Sound Quiz (PDF), one per student

To share with the entire class:

• capability to show the class the Physics of Sound Presentation (PPTX), a PowerPoint® file