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Title
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Determining a Sound Field
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Type
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Primary: Laboratory
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Operation
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Resilient Planet
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Mission:
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Mission 5: The Rescue
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Print Page
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97
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Subjects
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Science | Science as inquiry | Science process skills | Analyzing data | Collecting data | Interpreting data | Measuring
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Grades
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5 | 6 | 7 | 8
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Keywords
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sound, field, Leila Hatch, Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, noise, Dr. Hatch, data, ambient, natural, human devices, detect, source, detector, kite string, meter stick, aggregate, communication, organism
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Duration
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00:30:00 (HH:MM:SS)
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Audience
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Teachers | Elementary Grades | Junior High
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Created On
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4/21/2008
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From: Resilient Planet Mission 5: The Rescue (pp: 97) |
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Determining a Sound Field In this activity, you will collect and analyze data that displays the sound field of a sound source. |
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How loud is that sound? How far can that sound travel? Where is the sound coming from? These are some of the questions that Leila Hatch needs to answer in order to understand how sound pollution affects the animals of Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary.
To measure the impact of a specific noise, scientists such as Dr. Hatch explore its sound field. A sound field indicates the level of a sound at different distances and directions from its source. In this activity, you will collect and analyze data that displays the sound field of a specific noise.
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| Materials |
- Lab 1 Data Sheet
- laptop computer, MP3, or CD Player
- low-powered battery speakers
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| Lab Prep |
- Download the sound field sample sounds from the JMC to a laptop, MP3, or CD player and listen to the sounds. Compare and contrast the sounds you hear.
- Download the Lab 1 Data Sheet and bring it to the field where the activity will be performed.
- Identify a flat, open space in which to perform this activity.
- For one minute, sit quietly and listen to the ambient noise of the surroundings. Compose a list of all the ambient noise you detect. Identify which sounds are natural and which ones were created by humans.
- Predict how the sounds identified in step 4 may have an impact in the detection of the sample sounds if you played them at that location.
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| Make Observations |
- One team member who is in charge of the sound source sits in the center of the activity space. He or she will play the sample sounds from the laptop, MP3, or CD player. Keep the speaker volume set at a constant level for all sounds.
- The other team members are the "detectors." They stand in a circle around the sound source. Detectors face away from the circle center, positioned outward like the evenly spaced spokes of a wheel. Detectors will try to detect the specific noise through the ambient noise.
- Turn on the sound device and play the selected sounds, repeating as necessary.
- Upon hearing the sound, the detectors walk in a straight line away from the sound source without looking back.
- Detectors stop moving when they reach a point where they can no longer hear the specific noise.
- Determine your distance from the sound source using a kite string and meter stick.
- Plot your ending locations on the data sheet grid and share your data with your teammates.
- Repeat the investigation with sounds #2 and #3, and graph your results.
- Aggregate the class data for each specific noise and infer why you got those results. Did you observe any masking of the sounds by ambient noises? Explain.
- How does ambient noise affect the communication between organisms—including us?
- How does your own hearing affect your data collection?
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Journal Question
Whales, like humans, are highly social creatures dependent on complex sound communication. If whales cannot hear because specific noises are masking their sounds, how might this affect their survival? | |
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