Lesson on Sound Heard Loud and Clear

Monday, October 16, 2006

Lesson on Sound Heard Loud and Clear
Shireese Bell, Florence Morning News

FLORENCE SC — Through songs played on a guitar, seashells and a Slinky, about 825 students at Delmae Heights Elementary School learned how sound is made during a presentation by ScienceSouth held Monday.

Marc Serre and Erin Powers, of ScienceSouth, gave a lesson on sound, which is a part of ScienceSouth's program called "Now Listen Hear." Serre and Powers taught students in grades kindergarten through fourth about frequencies, sound waves, speed of sound and amplitude.

Serre explained the concepts by using common household items such as a hanger, string or a jar of water for experiments that students would be able to recreate on their own. "These are great experiments that are easy to do," Serre said. "They are experiments that they can do at home."



Serre said the fun and easy experiments help the students understand the science behind sound and sound waves. He said the experiments also help with teaching the state's standards for sound. "It's complimentary to their school curriculum," Serre said. "At a certain age level, they have to know about sound and energy and how it travels."

Debbie Chapman, Delmae's science lab teacher, said only the second-, third- and fourth-grade students are able to have science lab this year, so she invited ScienceSouth to do a lesson on sound for all the students at the school.

Chapman said Serre does a fantastic job at demonstrating sound and how it works, and thought it would be a fun exercise for the students when learning the standards.



"Marc does an interactive show," Chapman said. "He does the experiment and then introduces the vocabulary words. He's kind of out of the box." Chapman said she goes by the motto, "hands on, minds on," when it comes to teaching, so that students can get a better understanding of what is being taught.

"We do a lot of hands-on experiments in the lab," Chapman said. "It's a lot more engaging than having the teacher just stand their talking."

According to ScienceSouth's Web site, the organization is a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to improving science and technology education.