Lesson Overview:
This lesson provides students with an opportunity to create a "woodwind" instrument. Students will make predictions and explore how pitch changes based on the length of the air pipe.
Length of Lesson:
Two 45-minute periods
Notes:
This lesson is particularly suitable for grades 3-4.
Instructional Objectives:
Students will:
- design investigations that determine what factors affect the pitch of (different) woodwind instruments based on the length of the windpipe.
- explore the factors that determine pitch fluctuation of woodwind instruments.
- create and record a meaningful hypothesis as well as accurate data sets reflecting knowledge gained through their investigation.
Supplies:
- (6) Plastic drinking straws per student
- Cardboard or stiff paper
- Scissors
- Glue
- Art Supplies: markers, colored pencils, or crayons
- (4) Empty soda bottles per cooperative group
- Water
- The following musical excerpts:
- "Pan the Piper" by Pellitier
- "Stars and Stripes Forever" by Sousa
- "Largo for Symphony No. 5" by Dvorak
- "Rhapsody in Blue" by Gershwin
- "Dance of the Toy Flute" by Tchaikovsky
- "Arabian Dance" by Tchaikovsky
- "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" by Tchaikovsky
- "Chinese Dance" by Tchaikovsky
Instructional Plan:
Warm Up
Using the Instrument Families of the Orchestra handout, review the instruments of the woodwind family. Play one or more of the follwing musical selections:
| "Pan the Piper" |
Pellitier |
Woodwind Family |
| "Stars and Stripes Forever" |
Sousa |
Piccolo |
| "Largo for Symphony No. 5" |
Dvorak |
English Horn |
| "Rhapsody in Blue" |
Gershwin |
Clarinet |
| "Dance of the Toy Flute" |
Tchaikovsky |
Flute |
| "Arabian Dance" |
Tchaikovsky |
Oboe |
| "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" |
Tchaikovsky |
Bass clarinet |
| "Chinese Dance" |
Tchaikovsky |
Bassoon |
Ask students to describe the music they are hearing, and if possible, to identify the instruments performing. Distribute the Vocabulary handout and review related terms, paying particular attention to the following:
Air column: space within the air pipe of a woodwind instrument that experiences vibrations created by the player’s breath. The speed of the breath determines the pitch of the note created. Keys are used to open and close the holes in the air column to create pitch fluctuation.
Reed: a flexible strip of cane or metal set into the mouthpiece or air opening of certain instruments to produce tone by vibrating in response to a stream of air.
Introductory Activity
Have students explore the folowing sites to learn more about woodwind instruments:
When students have had a chance to explore the websites, refer back to the Instrument Families of the Orchestra handout. As a class, share any information discovered in the course of the research, and review the relevant information in the "Woodwinds" column of the Instrument Trivia chart.
Guided Practice
Distribute and review the Scientific Process Guidelines for Woodwinds. As a class, have students create a sample hypothesis based on the pitch that will be created by blowing over the tops of two soda bottles with air columns of different size. The size of the air column is based on the amount of water in each bottle. As a class, have students create a prediction based on the hypothesis.
Provide a format for prediction making:
If our hypothesis is true then the pitch created should be:
higher
—or—
lower
when the air column is:
larger
—or—
smaller
Divide students into cooperative groups of four. Assign duties and rotate them for the other lessons in this unit:
Recorder: note taker
Group leader: decision maker, dispute settler, teacher liaison
Equipment adjuster: makes adjustments to test equipment
Tester: performs the tests
Independent Practice:
Have students work in small groups to complete the experiment:
Experiment 1: Test the first hypothesis and prediction using the two water bottles filled to different levels.
As a class, instruct students to complete the Scientific Process Outline for Woodwinds handout based on the results of their experiment. Review the Procedural Guidelines for Creating Woodwind Instruments handout and distribute supplies. Play listening examples while students work through the next independent practice.
Following the Procedural Guidelines for Creating Woodwind Instruments handout, have students work independently to create their own instruments. Have students work in small groups to create a hypothesis based on the pitch created by straws of different lengths.
Have students work in small groups to create a prediction based on the hypothesis they created regarding the relationship between air column length or size and the pitch it will create.
Experiment 2: Test the second hypothesis and prediction using student-created instruments. When needed, remind students of their roles within the cooperative group.
Monitor student participation and accuracy in achieving results. When the group experiment is completed, have students copy the experiment data onto their own Data Sheet. Each student must complete the analysis section and the conclusion section independently.
Conclusion
Have students share instruments with the class, or with small groups. Student presentations should reference the vocabulary. Ask the following questions:
- What is the relationship between pitch and the size of the air column?
- What is the science called that we have studied?
- What elements of the listening example influenced the design you created on your windpipe?
Assessment:
Use the Assessment Rubric to assess student work.
Extensions:
The remaining lessons in the Acoustic Science unit, String Instruments and Pitch, Brass Instruments and Pitch, and Percussion Instruments and Pitch, may be taught in any order.
Sources:
Print:
- Adler, Naomi. Play Me a Story: Nine Tales About Musical Instruments. Brookfield, Conn.: Millbrook Press, 1998.
- Hasday, Judy L. Musical Instruments from Around the World. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 1999.
- Kalman, Bobbie. Musical Instruments from A to Z. New York: Crabtree Press, 1998.
- Lithgow, John. The Remarkable Farkle McBride. New York: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2000.
Media:
- The Pied Piper of Hamlyn (German)
- The horse head fiddle (Mongolian)
- Fairy music (Irish)
- The Dancing Corn Maidens (Hopi)
- The Singing Drum (African)
- The Singer and the Dolphin (Greek)
- The Bewitched Snake Charmer (Indian)
- Didgeridoo Magic (Australian Aboriginal)
- The Painted Balalaika (Russian)
Authors:
-
Leslie Thomas, Teacher
Thomas Pullen Arts Magnet School
Landover, MD
