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4
Brief
Preparation time: 20 min
Teaching time: 45 min

What is noise?

Students will work in separate groups to research what noise is, exploring whether all sounds noise, classifying types of noise, and measuring noise in decibels. They will use this research to teach each other about their respective topics. They will explore harmful effects of noise, and carry out an experiment to see if noise affects concentration.

Format

  • Digital experiences
  • Group work
  • Presentation
  • Scientific/technological inquiry

Age

  • 13-16

What

The possible connections with your curriculum

  • Biology
  • Natural science
  • Physical Sciences

Who

The people who take up the teacher role

  • School students
  • Teacher

Where

The locations where learning takes place

  • Classroom

With

The community stakeholders to collaborate with

-

Ready for action?

Resources

Tangible Resources

Computers with the internet, academic articles relating to noise, text for the experiment.

Preparation

Prepare research articles, create conditions for conducting the experiment.

Goals, messages & concepts

Specific goals

  • To learn what noise really is.
  • To be able to give examples of sounds we call noise, and differentiate between different types of noise.
  • To understand the consequences and harmfulness of noise.

Specific messages

  • Not every sound is noise.
  • Noise is harmful to our health.

Main terms

  • noise

Practices & skills

STEM practices

  • Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information
  • Planning and carrying out investigations

Soft skills

  • Teamwork and collaboration

Management skills

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Course of activity

step 1

Divide students into 5 groups, distributes topic titles for which they need to work together to research: 

  • Are all sounds noise?
  • Classify noise according to its source (depending on the environment where it occurs: municipal, communication, industrial, etc.)
  • Classify noise depending on the time course: intermittent, pulsating, etc.)
  • Give examples of noise (how many decibels generated by rustling leaves, a whisper, vacuum cleaner, etc.) and types of noise (communication, industrial, municipal, etc.)
  • Consequences and harmfulness of noise.

step 2

Students will carry out secondary research on their topic using the internet, books, and articles prepared by the teacher. They will produce a mind map or posters explaining their findings.

step 3

Students will then present their answers to the whole class.

step 4

Next, students will conduct an experiment.

  • Half of the students will have 1 minute to mark all the instances of the letter J in a given text, while the other half shouts, says blah blah blah, makes noise. Students then count their results.
  • The second group will carry out the same activity using the same text, in complete silence, then count their results.
  • After the experiment, the data should support the conclusion that noise interferes with concentration.