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S T U D E N T G U I D E

The Science of Sound

What scientific factors influence how we hear sound?

View this lesson at ThinkCERCA

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Table of Contents

Skills Focus

  • Build Your Vocabulary: Map a Word
  • Cornell Notes: Asking Questions and Defining Problems

Overview and Connect

  • Find Your Purpose for Learning
  • Share Your Personal Connection

Read and Check

  • Share Your Reflections
  • Test Prep Strategy: Prediction (Optional)

Analyze / Engage with the Text

  • Highlight and Annotate

Summarize

  • Write a Summary

Develop / Build Your Argument

  • Share Your Argument Builder

Draft and Review / Create your CERCA

  • Peer Editing Activity
  • Reflect on Your Writing

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Extension Activities

  • Research Activity: Soundproofing
  • Inquiry to Research: Asking Questions of the Text

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S K I L L S F O C U S

Build Your Vocabulary: �Map a Word — Acoustics�

Synonym (similar or like word)

Antonym (opposite word)

Picture of Vocabulary Word

Vocabulary Word and Definition

Part of Speech

Root Word or Origin

Sentence Using Vocabulary Word

Instructions: Analyzing key vocabulary words will help you better understand the texts you are reading. Word mapping can also help the words "stick" in your memory. Complete the map below with the vocabulary word provided in the title. Use a dictionary if necessary. Fill as many boxes as you can.

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S K I L L S F O C U S

Cornell Notes: Asking Questions and Defining Problems

What is a phenomenon?

A phenomenon is…

What is the difference between causal versus descriptive scientific questions?

The difference between causal and descriptive scientific questions is...

How do scientists and engineers work together?

Scientists and engineers work together by…

Instructions: Take notes on the Direct Instruction lesson using the organizer below. Then summarize and reflect on the next page.

Complete the Direct Instruction lesson online at learn.thinkcerca.com

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S K I L L S F O C U S

Cornell Notes: Asking Questions and Defining Problems

Summarize and Reflect

In your own words and in complete sentences, write a 3–4 sentence summary of this Direct Instruction lesson. An accurate summary will cover the lesson's central ideas and include important details to support those ideas.

Record your summary here:

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O V E R V I E W A N D C O N N E C T

Find Your Purpose for Learning

Instructions: When you have finished reading the Overview for this lesson, answer the following questions in the space below:

What more would you like to learn about sound and how it works? What would you like to know about the scientific factors that influence how we hear sound?

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Read the Overview provided at learn.thinkcerca.com

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O V E R V I E W A N D C O N N E C T

Share Your Personal Connection

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Complete the Connect section for this selection at learn.thinkcerca.com

Instructions:�

  • Think: On your own, think about your experiences related to the topic.
  • Pair & Share: With a partner, group, or a trusted listener, share the parts of your response that you feel comfortable sharing.
  • Reflect: If time permits, reflect on your experience. What ideas did others share that you hadn't considered? How were your ideas alike?

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R E A D

Share Your Reflections

Instructions: During or after you have finished reading, find the questions in the text marked Pause and Reflect. These questions may help you understand the text, or they may help you connect the text to yourself, to other texts, or to the world around you.

Use the space on the left below to answer the reflection questions. Then discuss your answers, noting how they were similar or different.

Record “Pause and Reflect” answers here:

Record discussion reflections here:

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Refer to the Pause and Reflect questions within the Read section of the lesson at learn.thinkcerca.com.

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C H E C K

Test Prep Strategy: Prediction

One way to prepare for assessments is to practice looking for the answers in the text before looking at the answer choices. Use prediction strategies as an opportunity to read a text more carefully.

Read each multiple choice question. In your own words, record your prediction of the correct response in the chart below.

Question on ThinkCERCA

What is the question asking you to do?

Example: Which of the following statements best explains how the passage is structured?

Look for details on the order of ideas in the passage, like order of importance, or cause and effect.

Refer to the multiple choice questions for this lesson at learn.thinkcerca.com.

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A N A L Y Z E / E N G A G E W I T H T H E T E X T

Highlight and Annotate

In this step, you will analyze the text closely, then discuss your findings to begin developing reasoning for your argument.

  • Read the text again, highlighting and annotating important details. ��Follow the prompts provided. The highlighting prompts will help you with the final writing task. ��You will find evidence to support your own argument or informational piece, as well as models of excellence that will help you better understand a writer’s craft in narratives and poetry. The evidence you highlight will be available when you begin building your draft in the next step.

  • If time permits, pair and share your highlights and annotations with a classmate. Pay close attention to this conversation! Your thinking is important reasoning that you may include in your final draft.

Return to learn.thinkcerca.com to complete Analyze / Engage with the Text.

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S U M M A R I Z E

Write a Summary

Summaries help you process your thinking about a text and are often a great way to start off an argumentative or informational essay. A good summary shows you have knowledge about a topic.

Practicing summarizing also helps you prepare for the main idea questions posed on many standardized assessments. In addition, summarizing is a helpful skill for working with others, such as when you need to confirm your understanding of what someone else has said. That's a useful skill for all parts of life.

  • Use the sentence stems provided in the online lesson to summarize the text. Your summary should:
  • Be brief
  • Include the main idea and key details
  • Represent these ideas fairly and accurately �
  • If time permits, pair and share with a classmate. Read each other’s summary, and discuss how they are similar or different. What did you say were the main idea and key details? Were your summaries fair and accurate? Why?

Return to learn.thinkcerca.com to complete Summarize.

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D E V E L O P / B U I L D Y O U R A R G U M E N T

Share your Argument Builder

When you’ve completed the argument building step, share your results with others, and listen to how they responded to the same question. Ask questions, and give feedback to help strengthen your partners’ reasons and evidence.

What scientific factors influence how we hear sound?

Share Your Argument

Listen and Record Others

1.

2.

3.

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D R A F T A N D R E V I E W / C R E A T E Y O U R C E R C A

Peer Editing Activity

  • Do a self-assessment of your CERCA. Use the online rubric for the lesson on learn.thinkcerca.com, checking each box where you find evidence that you have achieved the criteria.�
  • Next, collaborate with a classmate to read each other’s drafts. Again, use the rubric to evaluate each other’s work.�
  • Share insights into what might make your pieces stronger. Find two positive attributes and one area of growth for each draft you review.�
  • Revise your piece using what you learned from your self-assessment and the feedback from your peers.

Complete your Draft at learn.thinkcerca.com

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D R A F T A N D R E V I E W / C R E A T E Y O U R C E R C A

Reflect on Your Writing

Before you submit your final CERCA, write a brief reflection describing your experience.

An area for growth for me on this piece or in my writing in general is…

The strongest areas of this piece of writing are…

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Through self-assessment and/or peer editing, I learned…

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Extension Activities

The following activities can be used as extensions to this lesson.

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O P T I O N A L E X T E N S I O N : R E S E A R C H A C T I V I T Y

Soundproofing

Background

There are many factors that influence the quality of sound. Temperature, pressure, humidity, and other environmental factors can affect sound waves, how they travel, and how they are perceived.

In this activity, you will explore how sound interacts with different materials.

Materials Needed

  • small plastic or cardboard box
  • a sound-making device, such as a ticking clock, an alarm, or a phone
  • various materials of different densities, such as fabric, cardboard, metal, glass, leaves, or a pillow. Ask an adult for permission to use these materials.
  • pen and paper

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O P T I O N A L E X T E N S I O N : R E S E A R C H A C T I V I T Y

Soundproofing (continued)

Activity

  • Start the sound-making device. Be sure that it produces a sound with a consistent volume.
  • Outside, put the device down, and walk away until you can no longer hear the sound it makes.
  • Mark your location with a stone, stick, or something nearby. .
  • Label the location so you will know which materials you were using for soundproofing when you heard the sound at that distance.
  • Put the device in a small box.
  • Repeat steps 2-4.
  • Place one of the different materials you have available on the ground between the box and yourself.
  • Repeat steps 2-4 with at least 3 different types of materials placed between you and the box.
  • Complete the table below with 1-5. The numbers show how far away you can hear the sound. Write “1” for the situation that only lets you hear the sound the shortest distance away. Write “2” for the situation that allowed you to hear the sound the second farthest distance, and so on. Write “5” for the situation that allowed you to hear the sound the farthest away.

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O P T I O N A L E X T E N S I O N : R E S E A R C H A C T I V I T Y

Soundproofing (continued)

Reflect

  • Record the answers to these questions in your notebook.
  • How did the different materials affect how far you could hear the sound?
  • Why did some materials block more of the sound than others?
  • Why might this information be useful?
  • What other materials might be more useful for soundproofing? Why?

Type of Material

Distance from Device

Nothing

Box

Material 1

Material 2

Material 3

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O P T I O N A L E X T E N S I O N : I N Q U I R Y T O R E S E A R C H

Ask Questions of the Texts

As you engage with texts in any subject, you can actively ask questions about the author’s purpose, intended audience, and occasion to understand the message. The table below provides examples.

Approaches

Example

Questions about the author

Is the author an authority on this topic? What was the author’s motivation in writing this piece?

Questions about the audience, purpose, and occasion of the text

Why was this article written? Why was it published at this time?

Questions about civics, economics, geography, and history

What are sound waves, and how do they work?

Questions about concepts and ideas

How do hands-on activities help us understand complicated processes?

Questions about self and community reflections

What different ways do humans communicate?

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O P T I O N A L E X T E N S I O N : I N Q U I R Y T O R E S E A R C H

Ask Questions of the Texts (continued)

Use the table below to record questions about the text you read.

Approaches

Questions

Questions about the author

Questions about the audience, purpose, and occasion of the text

Questions about civics, economics, geography, and history

Questions about concepts and ideas

Self and Community Reflections

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