The Arizona STEM Acceleration Project

Rainsticks

Rainsticks

A 5th grade STEM lesson

Author-

Loy Ann Guzman

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Date

January 25, 2024

Notes for teachers

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List of Materials

• Mailing tubes
• Piece of cardboard large enough to cut circles to fit on ends of mailing tube
• Scissors
• Tape (clear packing or duct tape work best), glue, or rubber bands
• Foil or chenille stems, or toothpicks
• Rice, beans, corn, or pebbles (or a mixture of two or more)
• Brown paper or colored paper
• Markers, colored pencils, or paint
• Paintbrushes, if painting
• Feathers, beads, and other decorations
• String or yarn
• Flour/Water/bowl/spoon
• Newspaper
• Book - The Rainstick by Sandra Chisholm Robinson and book Rain by Robert Kalan.

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Ask the students if they have ever been able to just sit and listen to rain falling. What do you hear? Let them listen to the sounds. Explain how the rainstick was made. Tell the student they will be making a rainstick of their own. Have them create different sounds or pitches to make the sound of rain.

Standards

5.P3U1.4 Obtain, analyze, and communicate evidence of the effects that balanced and unbalanced forces have on the motion of objects.

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Dimension 1 - Do

2. Developing and using models

3. Planning and carrying out investigations

6, Constructing explanations and designing solutions

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Dimension 2 - Think

2. Cause and effect

4. Systems and system models

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Standards

Dimension 3 -

The core ideas of knowing science

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Know

P3: Changing the movement of an object requires a net force to be acting on it.

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The core ideas of using Science

Use

U2: The knowledge produced by science is used in engineering and technologies to solve problems and/or create products

Objectives:

• Students will be able to explain how the different size or shapes of objects used can make different sounds with rainsticks.
• Students will be able to collaborate and communicate effectively with others to complete and engineering design challenge.
• Students will be able to design and engineer Rainsticks that will make the sound of rain.

Agenda- 45 min a day for 4 days

Day 1 - 45 minutes

• Read Books - The Rainstick by Sandra Chisholm Robinson and book Rain by Robert Kalan.
• Talk about the history of the rainsticks. How differents objects used can make different sounds in the rainsticks.

Day 2 - 45 minutes

Students gather materials and start making their rainsticks. If rainstick don’t sound like rain student needs to fix it.

Day 3 - 45 minutes

Next, they will paper mache the rainstick with flour mixture and newspaper.

Day 4 - 45 minutes

Students will wrap the rainstick with construction paper. Draw pictures on the rainsticks. Place a rope around the rainstick to carry it over your shoulder.

Intro/Driving Question/Opening

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What is a rainstick? How does it makes different sounds and pitches?

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Vocabulary Words

• Rainstick - a percussion instrument made from a dried cactus branch that is hollowed out, filled with small pebbles, and capped at both ends. When slightly tilted, it makes the sound of falling rain.
• Twist - To bend, curl, and curve into a shape.
• Construct - To make or form by combining or arranging parts of an element.
• Pattern - a design that is repeated in a certain order.
• Culture - Characteristics of a particular group of people.
• Sound - Produced by continuous and regular vibrations as opposed to noise.
• Pitch - Can be taken as the measure of sound frequency.

Hands-on Activity Instructions

• Each student will get a mailing tube. Take off one lid.
• Cut cardboard strips narrower that the tube. Fold them back and forth like a fan. Or foil wrap around the stick of a wooden spoon. remove the foil.
• Insert the strips or foil into the tube until they reach the top of the tube.
• Pour in rice, small beans, corn. Students will figure out how much.
• Place lid back on the tube. See if it sounds like rain. If not redo it again.
• Paper mache the tube using flour & water mixture and newspaper. Let tube dry.
• Take construction paper and wrap on the mailing tube. Tape in place and then decorate.
• Tie a rope or string on the rainstick to carry on the shoulder.

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Students made handmade Rainsticks

Assessment

Put the students in groups for about 30 minutes.

• Each group will discuss what they learned with their project.
• Allow each student time to present what they learned with their rainsticks.
• Place students in groups, they will try to make music with the rainsticks. See which group sounds the best.

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Differentiation

• Allow students to verbalize their information about what they learned.
• Allow students more time to work.
• Allow students to watch a video on rainsticks. This can help students who need more help understanding the lesson.

Remediation

Extension/Enrichment

• Experiment with different amount and types of seeds and rice. Which materials make the most noise? Which item sounds more like falling rain?
• How many different objects can be used inside a rainstick?
• Use the rainstick as a percussion instrument, tapping and shaking the stick to a rhythm.