The Arizona STEM Acceleration Project

Rubber Band Guitar - Sound Vibrations

Sound Vibrations - Make Your Own Rubber Band Guitar!

A 4th grade STEM lesson

Hannah Towns

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6/15/24

Notes for teachers

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You can also have students partner up if you do not have enough materials. They will also get to work on collaborating and problem solving skills with a partner if need be!

List of Materials

• 1 shoebox lid per student
• 1 shoebox per student
• various sized rubber bands (students need at least 3-4 **make sure they will fit over the shoebox lid! Securely but not too tight is the goal**)
• scissors
• 2 pencils
• rulers
• tape
• markers, paint, or other materials for decorating (totally optional)

Standards

4.P4U1.1 Develop and use a model to demonstrate how a system transfers energy from one object to another even when the objects are not touching.

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4.P4U1.2 Energy can be moved from place to place by moving objects or through sound or light, or electric currents.

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Objectives:

Students will create a rubber band guitar. The guitar will make sound by use of sound waves.

Agenda

Intro/review - 10 mins

Construct the guitar - 30 mins

Decorate the guitar - 10 mins

Conclusion/discussion - 10 mins

Intro/Driving Question/Opening

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What do you already know about how sound is made?

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-give students time to think, pair, share in response to this question. This activity is intended as a review activity after sound waves have been taught.

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*to help students visually see the guitar strings creating sound waves, watch this video!

Hands-on Activity Instructions

• Have students draw a circle/oval on their shoebox lid - this is going to be their guitar so they can decide what it looks like!
• They will then cut out the circle/oval they just created and place the lid back on the shoe box.
• Students need to gather 3-5 different sized rubber bands and put them around both the shoe box AND the lid, securing the lid to the box. The two pencils go on either side of the circle, UNDER the rubber bands.
• Students may now test their guitar. If they are satisfied with the sounds, they may move on to decorating their guitar.

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NOTE: This WILL be loud and messy! That is ok! Embrace the chaos!

Assessment

After students have had enough time to create and test their guitars, bring everyone back together to discuss the following questions. Feel free to use an exit ticket to collect answers for a formative assessment as well!

What worked when creating your guitar? What didn’t work? What did you change?

How does the guitar make sound?

Does the size of the rubber band have an effect on the sound it makes when played? Why or why not?

Differentiation

-Support students with constructing their guitar. This is pretty open ended and can be frustrating for some students.

-Show the video linked in the introduction.

Remediation

Extension/Enrichment

-Research other stringed instruments and explain how sound waves work in those instruments.

-Have students change their guitar to make new sounds.