Waves

Grade level: 7

Subject area: Science: SCI.7.1.5.2010, English Language Proficiency: ELP.7.1.2003

Science Standard:

Recognize and provide evidence of how light, sound and other waves have energy and how they interact with different materials.

ELL Standard:

Language minority students will listen, speak, read, and write to convey knowledge of sounds, words, word parts, and context clues: vocabulary development.

Objectives

To explore the properties and types of waves through interactive activities

1. Students will be able to describe the properties of waves: wavelength, frequency and amplitude
2. Students will be able to explain that waves carry energy not matter
3. Students will be able to identify and begin to describe different types of waves: light and sound.

 

Materials & Safety 

Hook

• Popcorn
• Microwave

Stations

• Properties (x4)
  • Slinky
  • Lab sheets
• Light (x2)
  • Flashlight
  • Tub water
  • Food coloring
  • Mirror
  • Ultraviolet beads
  • Radio
  • Lab Sheets
• Sound (x2)
  • Forks
  • String
  • Q-tips
  • Lab Sheets

Safety Needs

• Broken glass containers
• Go over safety procedures for pinched fingers, broken glass, q-tip precautions, fork precautions, and food allergies

 

Procedures

1. Hook: What is popping my pop corn? Using microwave, make a bag of popcorn! Introduce waves with activity: Students will become human wave particles. All of the students should line up, standing in a straight line, one behind the other with their hands resting on the shoulders of the person in front of them. The instructor, located at the front of the line, creates an initial disturbance of the first particle, by pulling the student forward slightly, so that his/her motion is transferred back through the line of students. This illustrates how the wave moves, as the waveform is merely individual particles displacing one another, the individual particles do not actually travel along the waveform, but rather oscillate back and forth. This example shows longitudinal (Compression) waves, since the direction of displacement is in the same direction of wave propagation. To illustrate transverse wave forms, line up the students side by side, beginning in a squatting position, holding hands. The wave begins to travel as the first student stands up and then crouches back down, causing the student next to him/her to do the same. The wave travels down the line transversely (similar to “the wave” at a sporting event), because particle displacement occurs perpendicular to the direction of wave propagation. Again, point out to the students that they are doing no more than oscillating up and down, yet their motion is traveling down the line of students.
2. Transition to Stations (4×2 stations–8 groups of 4 students each: Particle) —INSTRUCTION & SAFETY PROCEDURE IS GIVEN BEFORE MOVEMENT: Students have 12 minutes at each station (encourage efficiency) They are expected to complete each activity in that amount of time–nominate a group reader, time keeper, recorder, and flex position (researcher?).

• Station 1&4: Properties of Waves
  • Guiding question: How does energy move?
  • Investigate with Slinky activity modeling compression and transverse waves
  • Guiding question: How do we measure waves?
  • Demonstrate with slinky waves at different speeds, therefore changing what we call wavelength, frequency and amplitude.
• Station 2&5: Light Waves 1
  • Guiding Question: Do waves travel in a straight line at a constant speed?
  • Investigate Reflection and refraction with light box, refraction glass, mirror.
• Station 3&6: Light Waves 2
  • Guiding question: Do we see light waves, are all light waves the same?
  • Investigate UV rays with beads and glasses.
• Station 4&8: Sound Waves
  • Guiding question: What are we actually hearing?
  • Investigate using beakers filled with liquids of your choice and fork and string activity.

1. Closure (IF TIME): Group Presentations

• Students will review and present in groups of 8 reviewing the information from each of the lab stations.
• They will be given a 7 minute planning period and presentations will require everyone to speak
• Presentations should last 5 minutes and be informal but share the pertinent information from each station
• And/Or Formative assessment, detailed below

 

Adaptations

Shouldn’t need any for this particular group. For other classes may have to modify vocabulary for other students and allow more time for stations, walking them through the follow up questions.

 

Discussion Questions

Guided by students follow up questions

 

Evaluation

Formative: End of the period- Rapid Fire/ Fill in the blank:

What is a wave? How do we know the exist?

How do we measure them?

Fill in the blank using chart or definitions:

The number of crests or compressions in a wave is_____.

The distance between two successive crests (or troughs) in a wave is a measure of_____.

______ is half the distance between the crest and trough.

What types of waves are sound waves?

What types of waves are light waves?

 Summative: N/A

 

Extensions

Mini lecture to reiterate wave types and properties. Possibility to use student questions to drive next lessons if necessary.

 

Rationale

This lesson will be taught in the form of the 3 E cycle: engage/excite, explore and then explain. Through the interactive hook and lab activities students will be excited by the material and then explore the importance of waves and their various properties. Throughout the lesson students will have the availability of books and their peers to encourage collaborative learning experiences where they can explain their thoughts and, through referencing the book, begin to have concepts of waves explained to them. The lesson will conclude with the opportunity for all students to engage in an explaining time where they will explain to their peers the discoveries they made in the lab, the questions they answered, and the follow up questions they had. At this point, we will launch into a mini lecture with notes about waves to reiterate all of the information the students learned. Although I do not anticipate reaching that point in the 90 minutes of this lesson, I would make this the next activity for the students.  Waves are an important concept to understand because although we may not see a wave, they are all around us all the time, and can have serious consequences for our health, just ask the Hulk.

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