Cultural Arts - How Do Waves Transmit Information?

How Do Waves Transmit Information?

On January 14th, The 4th graders learned about waves, particularly how sound waves travel and make different sounds. The students first started by banging on an empty drum. Dr. Dave then introduced the various sounds that occur when a drum or other object (i.e. a soda bottle in this case) are filled with different amounts of water. The Wampanoags (and many other cultures) used these concepts when building water drums. The students learned that this has to do with the length (wavelength), height (amplitude) and speed (frequency) of the traveling waves. They got to visualize waves by doing a human wave and moving a slinky at different speeds.

The students also learned how sound waves travel through our vocal cords to create different letter sounds. And they also learned the importance of nasal passages when making sounds (try to hum with your nose blocked...tricky!) Finally, the students got a home handout to try measuring the speed of light with chocolate in a microwave.

Thanks as always for teaching our kids about science, Dr. Dave! And thanks to all of you for your continued support, which allows us to host these wonderful Cultural Arts and STEM programs for our students!