Musical Instruments

This example includes a description of teaching and an assessment task, although the assessment task is indistinguishable from the teaching activity. The example begins with the teachers at King School working as a team involved in school reform. The team naturally builds on previous efforts; for example, the technology unit is modified from an existing unit. Other indicators that King School is working toward becoming a community of learners is the availability of older students to help the younger students with tasks beyond their physical abilities and the decision for one class to give a concert for another class. In her planning, Ms. R. integrates the study of the science of sound with the technology of producing sound. Recognizing the different interests and abilities of the students, Ms. R. allows students to work alone or in groups and plans a mixture of whole-class discussions and work time. She encourages the students in planning and communicating their designs. She imposes constraints on materials and time.

[This example highlights some elements of all of the Teaching Standards(A,B,C,D,E,F); Assessment Standard A; K-4 Content Standards B, E, and F; and Program Standards A, D, and E.]

The King School was reforming its science curriculum. After considerable research into existing curriculum materials and much discussion, the team decided to build a technology piece into some of the current science studies. The third-grade teacher on the team, Ms. R., said that she would like to work with two or three of her colleagues on the third-grade science curriculum. They selected three topics that they knew they would be teaching the following year: life cycles, sound, and water.

Ms. R. chose to introduce technology as part of the study of sound. That winter, when the end of the sound study neared, Ms. R. was ready with a new culminating activity--making musical instruments. She posed a question to the entire class: Having studied sound for almost 6 weeks, could they design and make musical instruments that would produce sounds for entertainment? Ms. R. had collected a variety of materials, which she now displayed on a table, including boxes, tubes, string, wire, hooks, scrap wood, dowels, plastic, rubber, fabric, and more. The students had been working in groups of four during the sound study, and Ms. R. asked them to gather into those groups to think about the kinds of instruments they would like to make. Ms. R. asked the students to think particularly about what they knew about sound, what kind of sound they would like their instruments to make, and what kind of instrument it would be. How would the sound be produced? What would make the sound? She suggested they might want to look at the materials she had brought in, but they could think about other materials too.

Ms. R. sent the students to work in their groups. Collaborative work had been the basis of most of the science inquiry the students had done; for this phase, Ms. R. felt that the students should work together to discuss and share ideas, but she suggested that each student might want to have an instrument at the end to play and to take home.

As the students began to talk in their groups, Ms. R. added elements to the activity. They would have only the following 2 weeks to make their instruments. Furthermore, any materials they needed beyond what was in the boxes had to be materials that were readily available and inexpensive.

Ms. R. knew that planning was a challenge for these third graders. She moved among groups, listening and adding comments. When she felt that discussions had gone as far as they could go, she asked each group to draw a picture of the instruments the children thought they would like to make, write a short piece on how they thought they would make them, and make a list of the materials that they would need. Ms. R. made a list of what was needed, noted which children and which groups might profit from discussing their ideas with one another, and suggested that the children think about their task, collect materials if they could, and come to school in the next week prepared to build their instruments.

Ms. R. invited several sixth graders to join the class during science time the following week, knowing that the third grade students might need their help in working with the materials. Some designs were simple and easy to implement; e.g., one group was making a rubber-band player by stretching different widths and lengths of rubber bands around a plastic gallon milk container with the top cut off. Another group was making drums of various sizes using some thick cardboard tubes and pieces of thin rubber roofing material. For many, the designs could not be translated into reality, and much change and trial and error ensued. One group planned to build a guitar and designed a special shape for the sound box, but after the glued sides of their original box collapsed twice, the group decided to use the wooden box that someone had added to the supply table. In a few cases, the original design was abandoned, and a new design emerged as the instrument took shape.

At the end of the second week, Ms. R. set aside 2 days for the students to reflect on what they had done individually and as a class. On Friday, they were once again to draw and write about their instruments. Where groups had worked together on an instrument, one report was to be prepared. On the next Monday, each group was to make a brief presentation of the instrument, what it could do, how the design came to be, and what challenges had been faced. As a final effort, the class could prepare a concert for the other third grades.

In making the musical instruments, students relied on the knowledge and understanding developed while studying sound, as well as the principles of design, to make an instrument that produced sound.

The assessment task for the musical instruments follows. The titles emphasize some important components of the assessment process.

SCIENCE CONTENT: The K-4 science content standard on science and technology is supported by the idea that students should be able to communicate the purpose of a design. The K-4 physical science standard is supported by the fundamental understanding of the characteristics of sound, a form of energy.

ASSESSMENT ACTIVITY: Students demonstrate the products of their design work to their peers and reflect on what the project taught them about the nature of sound and the process of design.

ASSESSMENT TYPE: This can be public, group, or individual, embedded in teaching.

ASSESSMENT PURPOSE: This activity assesses student progress toward understanding the purpose and processes of design. The information will be used to plan the next design activity. The activity also permits the teacher to gather data about understanding of sound.

DATA: Observations of the student performances.

CONTEXT: Third-grade students have just completed a design project. Their task is to present the product of their work to their peers and talk about what they learned about sound and design as a result of doing the project. This is a challenging task for third-grade students, and the teacher will have to provide considerable guidance to the groups of students as they plan their presentations. The following directions provide a framework that students can use to plan their presentations.

EVALUATING STUDENT PERFORMANCE: Student understanding of sound will be revealed by understanding that the sound is produced in the instrument by the part of the instrument that vibrates (moves rapidly back and forth), that the pitch (how high or how low) can be changed by changing how rapidly the vibrating part moves, and the loudness can be changed by the force (how hard you pluck, tap, or blow the vibrating part) with which the vibrating part is set into motion. An average student performance would include the ability to identify the source of the vibration and ways to change either pitch or loudness in two directions (raise and lower the pitch of the instrument or make the instrument louder and softer) or change the pitch and loudness in one direction (make the pitch higher and the sound louder). An exemplary performance by a student would include not only the ability to identify the source of the vibration but also to change pitch and loudness in both directions.

Student understanding of the nature of technology will be revealed by the students' ability to reflect on why people make musical instruments--e.g., to improve the quality of life--as well as by their explanations of how they managed to make the instrument despite the constraints faced--that is, the ability to articulate why the conceptualization and design turned out to be different from the instrument actually made.