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Talking About Good Vibrations

Published September 18, 2015 | By Carol Malnor

BUG_COVER2Animals, including humans, feel sound as well as hear it, and good vibrations are a key to insect communication.

The NPR (National Public Radio) series “Close Listening Series: Decoding Nature through Sound,” explores ways biologists are using sound to understand animal behavior.

Noisy Bug Sing-Along introduces children to interesting insects (life science) and the sound vibrations they create (physical science).

Children are treated to scientifically accurate, up-close depictions of some very cool bugs. It explains why the bugs make the sounds they do, and how they do it—and it’s not with their voices!

New technologies have revealed this hidden vibrational world to scientists, and your students can see what sound waves look like with these audio files.

STANDARDS-BASED  LESSON: Noisy Bugs
Click here for a complete lesson plan that engages children by having them feel the vibrations they make when they hum. Then, through a demonstration, they learn the four ways that bugs make sound vibrations. The lesson ends with a fun, creative activity—designing an imaginary bug and creating the sound it makes.

 

ACTIVITY: Safety in Numbers
Play a game that demonstrates the survival technique  of being a member of a group. True Katydids, like the one in this book, will often call together to create a chorus. This can make it difficult for bats to pick out an individual to eat. Here’s a game to demonstrate how this works. One blindfolded child (the bat) stands in the middle of a circle of children (the katydids). One katydid claps his or her hands. The bat has to locate this calling katydid by sound, and can usually do so easily! Now, the bat returns to the center. Then ALL the katydids clap together  in a pattern. Can the bat find the original katydid?
More books in the “Noisy Sing-Along” series are:

 

NBIRD_COVER2
Noisy Bird Sing-Along with a  “Dawn Chorus” lesson plan. Every kind of bird has their very own kind of sound–cheerful, mournful, sweet, and even weird. You can tell who they are without even opening your eyes.

 

Noisy Frog Sing-Along and a list of fun and informative activities.FROG_COVER2 When frogs get together, they love to sing! It’s a chorus that happens near almost every pond and stream.
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Posted in Nature Books Blog, Uncategorized
subscribe     Blog by Carol Malnor I love making connections: kids and nature, science and reading, fun and learning. I discovered the joy of connecting Dawn Publications' books with kids when I was a classroom teacher. Dawn's books were easy to incorporate into my lessons and the kids loved them. I used picture books with students of all ages, from primary school all the way up through 9th grade. Over the years, my relationship with Dawn changed and developed, and I authored Dawn’s Teacher’s Guides as well as writing books for children 4-14 years old. ARTICLE How to Use Creative Nonfiction Picture Books in Support of Common Core and Science ACTIVITIES Dawn Publications STANDARDS Common Core State Standards Next Generation Science Standards National Science Teachers Association Picture Perfect Science   OTHER FAVORITES Dawn Publications Children and Nature Network
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