Sound studio
View Sequence overviewStudents will:
- be guided through the design thinking process to create sound effects for a given prompt.
- apply their understanding of how sounds are made, volume, pitch to create sound effects.
Students will represent their understanding as they:
- create a storyboard with labels and descriptions of sound effects being produced.
- share their sound effects and communicate their design choices to a selected audience.
In this lesson, assessment is summative.
Students working at the achievement standard should have:
- demonstrated how different sounds can be produced.
- described the effect of sound energy on objects.
- used everyday and scientific vocabulary to communicate observations, findings and ideas.
Refer to the Australian Curriculum content links on the Our design decisions tab for further information.
Whole class
Class science journal (digital or hard-copy)
The video How the sounds from your favorite movies are made (2:43)
Sound table filled with a variety of items to make sound effects
Prompt for students to make sound effects for—see the Preparing for this sequence tab on the Sequence overview page for prompt ideas
Demonstration copy of the Sound effects storyboard Resource sheet
Each group
Various everyday items to use to make sound effects, including those on the sound table and items that have been investigated throughout the sequence
Optional: Materials to make sound makers
Each student
Individual science journals (digital or hard-copy)
Sound effects storyboard Resource sheet
Lesson
The Act phase empowers students to use the Core concepts and key ideas of science they have learned during the Inquire phase. It encourages students to develop a sense of responsibility as members of society—to act rather than be acted upon. It provides students with the opportunity to positively influence their own life and that of the world around them. For this to occur, students need to build foundational skills in an interactive mutually supportive environment with their community.
When designing the Act phase, consider ways that students could use their scientific knowledge and skills. Consider their interests and lifestyles that may intersect with the core concepts and key ideas. What context or problem would provide students with a way to use science to synthesise a design? How (and to whom) will students communicate their understanding?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkScience education consists of a series of key ideas and core concepts that can explain objects, events and phenomena and link them to the experiences encountered by students in their lives. The purpose of the Anchor routine is to identify and link students’ learning to these ideas and concepts in a way that builds and deepens their understanding.
When designing the Act phase of a teaching sequence, consider the core concepts and key ideas that are relevant. The Anchor routine provides an opportunity to collate and revise the key knowledge and skills students have learned, in a way that emphasises the importance of science as a human endeavour.
What have we learned?
Use the class science journal to review and discuss the data and ideas collected in the class science journal over the course of the teaching sequence.
- What is sound?
- What makes sound?
- How do we hear sound?
- How can we change the sound being heard?
- Why are sounds important to us?
- Why are sounds important in TV, movies and advertisements?
The Act phase empowers students to use the Core concepts and key ideas of science they have learned during the Inquire phase. It encourages students to develop a sense of responsibility as members of society—to act rather than be acted upon. It provides students with the opportunity to positively influence their own life and that of the world around them. For this to occur, students need to build foundational skills in an interactive mutually supportive environment with their community.
When designing the Act phase, consider ways that students could use their scientific knowledge and skills. Consider their interests and lifestyles that may intersect with the core concepts and key ideas. What context or problem would provide students with a way to use science to synthesise a design? How (and to whom) will students communicate their understanding?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkEach student comes to the classroom with experiences made up from science-related knowledge, attitudes, experiences and resources in their life. The Connect routine is designed to tap into these experiences, and that of their wider community. It is also an opportunity to yarn with community leaders (where appropriate) to gain an understanding of the student’s lives, languages and interests. In the Act phase, this routine reconnects with the science capital of students so students can appreciate the relevance of their learning and the agency to make decisions and take action.
When designing a teaching sequence, consider the everyday occurrences, phenomena and experiences that might relate to the science that they have learned. How could students show agency in these areas?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkMovie magic
Remind students of the Disney sound effects they viewed in the Launch phase, and how movies and television often require the creation of sound effects for the viewer to hear—known as Foley.
Optional: Revisit the Old Disney Sound Effects video.
View How the sounds from your favorite movies are made (2:43), an explanatory video of the work of a sound effects creator/Foley artist.
Discuss the foley artist video and challenge students to think more deeply about the creation of different sound effects.
The Act phase empowers students to use the Core concepts and key ideas of science they have learned during the Inquire phase. It encourages students to develop a sense of responsibility as members of society—to act rather than be acted upon. It provides students with the opportunity to positively influence their own life and that of the world around them. For this to occur, students need to build foundational skills in an interactive mutually supportive environment with their community.
When designing the Act phase, consider ways that students could use their scientific knowledge and skills. Consider their interests and lifestyles that may intersect with the core concepts and key ideas. What context or problem would provide students with a way to use science to synthesise a design? How (and to whom) will students communicate their understanding?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkWhen students use their knowledge and skills in new ways, they also have an opportunity to develop and use their creative and critical thinking skills. With scaffolded support, they can become more confident to work in a team and develop a stronger sense of autonomy. This results in stronger student outcomes, attitudes and sense of empowerment.
When designing a teaching sequence, consider what activity would allow students to showcase their knowledge and skills. Consider the current abilities of your students. What are they capable of explaining? What props could they design or build that would support their explanations? How much information would they need in their design brief to support their thinking? How does this connect with their lives and interests?
Creating sound effects
Using the steps of the design thinking process, students will apply their understanding of creating and changing sound to create a sound effects storyboard.
Give students a specific prompt to direct the task. This prompt should be relevant to your class and context, and might involve a community or school event, a recently read story, or another theme or topic being explored. For example:
- The school has an upcoming fete. Brainstorm a list of 'scenes' that might happen at the fete, like children on a ride, a can topple stall, or a chocolate wheel spinner.
- Imagine the sound effects that might enhance selected scenes from a recently read story. By giving pairs of students a specific scene or image from the book you can retell the story in sound effects, creating your own 'class movie' by recording the effects and adding them to a slideshow of images.
- The class has been learning about significant places in the local community, and how they meet the community’s needs. Imagine events that take place at these places, and what they would sound like.
Consider if you will add some parameters around the design (for example, it needs to contain a sound that uses body percussion, vocal sounds, items from nature, student designed sound makers or items from the sound table) and how the storyboards will be shared/communicated and with whom (sounds might be recorded, and played alongside an image students draw of the scene).
Using the first two sections of each 'scene' card on the Sound effects storyboard Resource sheet, students draw an image to represent a selected scene, describe the sounds that would be heard there, and whether they are loud, soft, and high- or low-pitched.
Students then continue through the design process to investigate ways they can recreate/represent these sounds using equipment available in the classroom.
Define
Outline the design challenge in a simple manner such as:
How can we… (use available items and materials) ...to... (create sound effects) …for… (a movie scene/advertisement/20 second scene)?
Ideate
Brainstorm ideas related to the required sound effects. You may need to ask probing questions specific to the prompt selected. For example, how can we make a sound like wind whooshing past our ears on a ride, or how can we make a sound like horse galloping through a field?
At this stage, to support creative thinking, every idea offered by students should be recorded in the class science journal. No idea is discounted, as the practicality/possibility of each idea will be considered later.
As students offer ideas, ask probing questions (Why do you think… or How do you know that…) to draw out the reasoning and evidence behind the idea.
Prototype
Working in pairs (or individually), students test different potential ways to make the desired sound effects for their scene. They record their final sound effect designs in the last section of each scene card on the Sound effects storyboard Resource sheet.
Remind students that their storyboard is not the final prototype—they can make changes to their sound effects throughout the entire process and they are not ‘locked in’ to what they put on their storyboard.
Once students have completed the storyboard, they should test and refine the sound effects. Encourage students to use a variety of available sounds, including body percussion, vocal sounds, items from the schoolyard/garden/sound table etc.
Optional: Students design and make their own sound makers to create a specific sound effect.
Optional: Students are provided opportunities to share their ideas so they might receive peer feedback.
The Act phase empowers students to use the Core concepts and key ideas of science they have learned during the Inquire phase. It encourages students to develop a sense of responsibility as members of society—to act rather than be acted upon. It provides students with the opportunity to positively influence their own life and that of the world around them. For this to occur, students need to build foundational skills in an interactive mutually supportive environment with their community.
When designing the Act phase, consider ways that students could use their scientific knowledge and skills. Consider their interests and lifestyles that may intersect with the core concepts and key ideas. What context or problem would provide students with a way to use science to synthesise a design? How (and to whom) will students communicate their understanding?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkA key part of Science Inquiry, the Communicate routine provides students with an opportunity to communicate their ideas effectively to others. It allows students a chance to show their learning to members of their community and provides a sense of belonging. It also encourages students to have a sense of responsibility to share their understanding of science and to use this to provide a positive influence in the community.
When designing a teaching sequence, consider who might be connected to the students that have an interest in science. Who in their lives could share their learning? What forum could be used to build an enthusiasm for science. Are there members of the community (parents, teachers, peers or wider community) who would provide a link to future science careers?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkPlay it out
Test and share
Students share their sound effects with an appropriate audience, such as classroom peers, buddies, school assembly, school concert audience etc.
Consider how students might communicate their ideas about the sound effects they have created. Depending on the audience and context, examples include:
- Storyboards can be displayed for the audience to see.
- Pairs can describe their thinking behind their sound effects and how they overcome difficulties or why they made changes.
Reflect on the lesson
You might:
- provide an opportunity for students to write a reflection about the sound effect performance in their class science journal. Writing prompts could include “creating the sound of ____ was difficult/challenging because…”, “next time I would…”, “I really enjoyed how ___ made the sound of ___.”
- ask students to represent their learning about sound in words, symbols and pictures.
- discuss how understanding sound can help us in our everyday lives.
- discuss how understanding sound can help people in their jobs.