Matter and Materials: Grade 4 - Materials That Transmit, Reflect, or Absorb Light or Sound

Overall Expectations (O.E. column below)
  1. demonstrate understanding that certain materials can transmit, reflect, or absorb light or sound;
  2. investigate materials that transmit, reflect, or absorb light or sound and use their findings in designing objects and choosing materials from which to construct them;
  3. explain why materials that transmit, reflect, or absorb light and/or sound are used in a variety of consumer products.
Related Web Pages
Site Name Online O.E. Description
How to Make Bottle Pipes 2 Students will make a set of bottle pipes to explore differences in pitch.
Groovy Guitars
2
 Learning About Sound introduces students to how sound is made; how sound travels; the terms 'pitch'; 'volume' and 'compression waves'; how our ears detect sounds; and the way our vocal cords work.
Moving Molecules Game
2
 Students will construct a model of air to see how sound travels.
Science of Sound
2
 Students will conduct an activity to show that sound is vibrations travelling through air.
Perfect Pitch
2
 Students will conduct an activity to observe how properties of and physical changes in materials can affect the nature and type of sound.
Designing a Reed Instrument
2
 Students will conduct an activity with straws to observe how properties of materials affect the nature of sound produced.
Terrific Telephones
2
 Students will construct a model of a telephone to observe how sound travels through materials.
Vibrating Violins
2
 Students will conduct an activity to observe how properties of and physical changes in materials can affect the nature and type of sound.
Bubblearium 2 Students will conduct an activity to observe the colours in soap bubbles.
Candemonium 1 Students will recycle cans to produce different sounds.
The Colour of Light 2 Students will observe that light is composed of three primary colours.
Ear Guitar 2 Students will have the opportunity to explore materials that transmit sound.
Pizza Box Solar Cooker 1 Make your own solar ovens.
Materials that Absorb Solar Energy 1 An experiment to see what materials store and absorb sunlight
Seeing Sound and Sonar 1 The activity will help students grasp how one can see with sound waves.