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Bringing Music Into Science
By Katie Lyon
Today I began one of my favorite lessons which I just started last year. Since we are headed into the end of the year and we have completed all of our Science lessons, I now have my students write and produce their very own Science Song. The only requirements: they must have three verses and have the chorus repeated at least twice. Oh and of course it HAS TO TEACH A CONCEPT.
Last year I had kids do songs on the layers of the Earth, the ecosystem, and my personal favorite translucent, transparent and opaque. (Best part about the last song is they recorded their whole song mispronouncing opaque……it just added to the character of their song!)
The students write their own lyrics using their Science book as a guide in groups of two. Each group needs to chose their own Science concept as I don’t allow them to repeat. Once they have finished writing their song, they create their music and melody in Garageband (however, you could download the program called Audacity for free online or use Acid Xpress 7). Once they have their music created I send them into the “Recording Studio”.
Now this is the fun part – I turn my closet into the recording studio. Now….I know what you are thinking. Students together….alone….in a closet. Yes. BUT I set up a camera which is linked to my desktop so I can see them in real time. Works perfectly and I haven’t had a problem. In the closet is a laptop with their music, headphones so they can hear their music while singing and my RockBand microphone stand and mic which is connected to the laptop to record their singing. I have even rigged a light outside that has red paper strategically placed over it near the top of the door for them to switch on so the rest of the class knows when recording is going on.
The kids absolutely adore this lesson and it gives them an opportunity to share what they have learned. As a gift, I record all the songs onto a CD and give it to the kids at the end of the year.
If interested in checking out last year’s creations you can visit my wiki at Science Songs.
You can also download the lesson plan and forms I created.
Please post below any comments or suggestions you have.
Original post can be seen at:
http://artofpossibilityforteachers.blogspot.com/2010/05/bringing-music-into-science.html
