Project: You and a partner will be creating a "tin-can telephone."
Step 1: Introduce project Step 2: partners Step 3: Research Tin-Can telephones Step 4: Create and check your tin-can telephone step 5: Measure the distance and efficiency of your creation step 6: answer the follow-up questions
Step 1: Introduce project - As a class, you will be watching the following short video on tin-can telehphones.
With a sound level meter the volume of your voice will be recorded. With a second sound level meter the volume of your message will also be recorded. This percentage will be multiplied times the total distance of your telephone (in feet).
(message sound/original sound) x distance = score
facts about sound:
1) sound comes from vibrations. 2) Sound can NOT travel through a vacuum (an aread devoid of matter) 3) The speed of sound is about 770 mph. 4) sound moves 4x faster through water than through air. 5) sound is measured in decibels. 6) for every 10 Db increase the volume of sound is doubled but the power is multiplied by a factor of 10. 7) First ever sound recording -- Thomas Edison, "Mary had a little lamb" 8) akousticophobia is the fear of sound. 9) melophobia is the fear of music. 10) a jet engine is about 1,000,000,000,000 times more powerful than the lowest sound we can hear
Step 3: Research tin-can telephones -- On a single sheet of paper type out your responses to the following questions 1) How, scientifically, does a tin-can telephone work? 2) Typical materials are 2 cans and a string. What specific materials do you think will work best to transmit your sound? why do you think this?
step 4: Create and check your telephone -- using your own materials provided (find objects, do not buy objects) construct your own telephone. When construction is complete test to see if your telephone works and make modifications as necessary. ** you will not get to test or measure your telephones today.
step 5: test your telephone - layout your telephone and measure the distance between telephones. Have a second group verify the distance. when ready have your teacher measure the sound levels incoming and outgoing.