The Interactive Science Classroom
Grades 4-6
Grade 4 Understanding Matter and Energy
Light and Sound
LEGEND:
Individual Activity
Group Activity
Demonstration
Outdoor Activity
Light Can Be Absorbed
Ask your students "Why is it best to wear light clothes in the summer?". Have them brainstorm ideas in groups, discuss as a class, then set up the following experiment:
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Wrap two glasses of water with paper; one with black construction paper, another with white.
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Place the two glasses of water on the windowsill in direct sunlight. Have one of your students come up and verify that the water level is the same in each glass. Ask your students "Why does it matter if the water levels are the same or not?"
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Place a thermometer in each water glass. Record the water temperature in each glass.
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Have your students predict what will happen to the temperature of the water. Write your predictions on the board.
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At the end of the day, have a student come up and record the new water temperatures. Are they the same? Are they different? What happened?
Expectations Addressed: 2.3, 3.3
Make Your Own Guitar
Let your students get creative while also getting them to explore how sound can be produced. The concept that sound is created by vibrations can be difficult to conceptualize, but using elastic bands to create a musical instrument makes it easier to understand.
Follow the instructions given on the "Science at Home" link posted below and have your students build their own guitars. How did they produce a sound on their instrument? What happens to the sound when the thickness of the band changes? Why?
You can also have your students play around with different shapes and sizes of containers. Does it change the sound?
Expectations Addressed: 2.3, 3.4
