Ledyard Public Schools

Grade 5 Science Curriculum

Unit of Study: PHYSICAL

Suggested Time: 10 Weeks

Content Standard 5.1 Sound and light are forms of energy. Sound is a form of energy that is produced by the vibration of objects and is transmitted by the vibration of air and objects. Light is a form of energy that travels in a straight line and can be reflected by a mirror, refracted by a lens, or absorbed by objects.

Essential Question:What is the role of energy in our world?

Focus Question #1 What factors affect the pitch and loudness of sound?

Expected performances (B17)  The student will be able to:

a. describe what sound is and how it is produced.

b. demonstrate that sound has different properties (e.g. pitch:  high-low; volume:  loud-soft.)

c. demonstrate how pitch and volume can be changed (e.g. tautness of a string, length of a tube, medium through which the sound travels.)

d. describe the factors that affect the pitch and loudness of sound produced by vibrating objects.

 

Required Activities:

Teacher notes:  It is suggested that students keep science journals/notebooks.  (Refer to teacher resource Science Notebooks, Writing About Inquiry by Brian Campbell for appropriate models for written response and scientific drawings.)

Engage:  (suggestion)  Show excerpt from STOMP Out Loud (musical video.)  Using ordinary objects to make extraordinary sounds.  (Technology Standard 1)

1. Students investigate what sound is and its properties, including volume.  FOSS Physics Of Sound Investigation 1, Part 1 “Drop Challenge” (properties of sound) pgs. 8 – 15, and Part 3 “Sound and Vibrations” (how are sounds made) pgs. 21 – 29.  (B17a  BINQ1,3,4,5,6,7)

Teacher notes:  Be sure to read the “Getting Ready” section of each investigation in advance.  You may wish to use parent volunteers to help with initial preparations.

2. Students investigate changes in pitch and classify sounds according to their pitch.  FOSS Physics Of Sound Investigation 2, Part 1, “Vibration and Pitch” (how high and low sounds are made) pgs. 8 – 12, Part 2 “Length and Pitch (how length affects pitch) pgs. 13 – 19, and Part 3 “Tension and Pitch” (how tension affects pitch) pgs. 20 – 24  (B17b,c,d  BINQ1,3,4,5,6,7,9,10)

 

Assessment:

Students describe in writing and with diagrams, how sound is produced and heard and the factors that affect the pitch and loudness of sound produced by vibrating objects.  Teacher Guide, FOSS Physics of Sound.  FOSS Assessment sheets 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12.  (B17d)

 

Optional Activities:

Students learn how musical instruments produce different sounds.  Mathtastics, Great Idea! “Strings and Things,” pgs. 6 – 7 (this resource is part of the Growing with Mathematics real world non-fiction books available in all grade 5 classrooms)

Any extension activities in FOSS Physics Of Sound module.

Focus Question #2 How is sound transmitted, reflected, and/or absorbed by different materials?

Expected performances (B18)  The student will be able to:

a. describe how sound is transmitted from the object producing the sound to a device or person who can record or hear the sound.

b. describe how sound is reflected by different materials (i.e. solids, liquids, gases.)

c. describe how sound can be absorbed by different materials (i.e. solids, liquids, gases.)

 

Required Activities:

1. Students investigate how sound travels.  FOSS Physics Of Sound Investigation 3, Part 1 “Sound travels through air and water” pgs. 8 – 14, and Part 2 “Sounds through solids” pgs. 15 – 19.  (B18b,c  BINQ1,3,4,5,6,7)

Teacher notes:  To address Expected Performance B18a “How sounds are heard,” you may use materials found in Focus Question #2 for the LIFE Unit, Expected Performance B18b, describe and draw a diagram to show how the ear receives sound and transmits that information to the brain.

 

Assessment:

Students answer Focus Question #2 using words and illustrations.

 

Optional Activities:

Investigation 4 FOSS Sound Challenges

Focus Question #3 How is light reflected, refracted, or absorbed by different surfaces?

Expected performances (B19)  The student will be able to:

a. explain what light is and describe its properties (e.g. color, brightness and direction of travel.)

b. describe objects that are capable of producing light.

c. explain how light travels in a straight line (through transparent objects) and can be reflected (bounced back) by a mirror, refracted (bent by moving from one material to another) by a lens, or absorbed (taken in) by objects.

d. describe how light is absorbed and/or reflected by different surfaces.

 

Required Activities:

Teacher notes:  Six light boxes are available per school for use with activities 1, 5, 6, 7, 8.  Each light box has the capability of having four students use it at the same time.

1. Students observe properties of light.  Activity 1 “Spectrum of Visible Light”  Delta Color and Light, pg. 13  (B19a, B20b  BINQ1,3,4,5,6,7,8)  (Technology Standard 1)

2. Students predict results of mixing pigments.  Activity 2 “Mixing Pigments”  Delta Color and Light, pg. 19  (B19a, B20b  BINQ1,3,4,5,6)

3. Students separate pigments through chromatography.  Activity 3 “Separating Pigments”  Delta Color and Light, pg. 29  (B19a, B20b  BINQ1,3,4,5,6,9)

4. Students predict how light is affected by pigments.  Activity 4 “Color Filters and Light”  Delta Color and Light, pg. 37  (B19a, B20b  BINQ1,3,4,5,6,7)

5. Students combine colored light beams and predict results.  Activity 5 “Mixing Light Beams”  Delta Color and Light, pg. 45  (B19a, B20b  BINQ1,3,4,5,6,7)  (Technology Standard 1)

6. Students create then separate colored light.  Activity 6 “Primary Colors”  Delta Color and Light, pg. 53  (B19a, B20b  BINQ1,3,4,5,6,7)  (Technology Standard 1)

7. Students compare methods of mixing color.  Activity 7 “Colored Lighting”  Delta Color and Light, pg. 61  (B19a, B20b  BINQ1,3,4,5,6,7)  (Technology Standard 1)

8. Students observe light rays using mirrors.  “Mirrors and Reflection”  DSMII Lenses and Mirrors, pg. 7  (B19c,d  BINQ1,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10)  (Technology Standard 1)

9. Students measure and record location of a reflection.  “Tic-Tac-Reflect”  DSMII Lenses and Mirrors, pg. 13  (B19c,d  BINQ1,3,4,5,6,7,9,10)

10. Students construct a pinhole viewer and observe inverted images.  “Pinhole Viewer”  DSMII Lenses and Mirrors, pg. 21 (B19c  BINQ1,3,4,5,6,7)

11. Students build a mirror maze and relate reflection to orientation of image.  “Mirror Maze”  DSMII Lenses and Mirrors, pg. 27  (B19c,d  BINQ1,3,4,5,6,7)

12. Students observe how light moves through different substances in different ways.  “Lenses and Refraction”  DSMII Lenses and Mirrors, pg. 55  (B19c,d  BINQ1,3,4,5,6)

13. Students design and conduct experiments with lenses and mirrors.  “Inventor’s Workshop”  DSMII Lenses and Mirrors, pg. 89  (B19a,b,c,d  BINQ1,3,4,5,6,10)

 

Assessment:

Students will create a set-up to make light rays refract, reflect, converge and diverge.  See DSMII assessment pg. 95  (B19d)

 

Vocabulary

• Absorb – take in

• Illumination – the amount of light that reaches a surface

• Light – a form of energy that humans can see

• Opaque – a material that does not allow light to pass through

• Pitch – how high or low a sound is (the faster the vibrations, the higher the pitch)

• Reflect – bounce back

• Refract – bending of light rays as they move from one material to another

• Sound – a form of energy produced by vibrating objects in a medium

• Translucent – a material that allows some, but not all, of the light that hits it to pass through, and that scatters some light

• Transparent – a material that allows light to pass through it easily

• Vibration – a rapid back-and-forth movement that produces sound

• Volume – how loud or soft a sound is (the more energy, the louder the sound)

 

Resources Needed:

Student:

Teacher:

Internet:

Student activities, teacher resources, tutorials:  http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/optics/activities/students/prisms.html

Interactive site for light:  http://www.thetech.org/exhibits/online/color/contents

Optical illusions:  http://www.michaelbach.de/ot

Background and links for light:  http://www.fi.edu/color/

Optics for kids:  http://www.opticalres.com/kidoptx.html

 

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS

Art: Invite an artist who works in oils, acrylics or watercolors, and ask them to demonstrate how they combine colors to produce other shades.

Health: Research the beneficial and damaging effects of ultraviolet (UV) rays on the skin.

Language Arts: Students research animal sounds, whale and dolphin communication, and bat navigation. Explain word origins of chromatography, reflect, and refract.

Mathematics: Solve logic problems involving musicians and musical instruments (see FOSS, pg. 25). Study transformations and patterns by using mirrors and observing reflections.

Music: Show and explain how musical instruments work, discuss noise vs. music.

Social Studies: Research the use of different colors of clothing to help keep the wearers cooler or warmer in different climates.

Technology: Find out what the acronym “laser” means, research and report on lasers.

 

Bold face indicates CORE expected performances to be assessed by CMT.

 

Ledyard Public Schools

Approved by Instructional Council on 4/10/2006