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Jessica Fredricks, Polk County Schools2015 Florida Music Educators Association ConferenceGood teachers know that it’s not what you teach, it’s how you teach it, which means it’s possible to incorporate STEAM strategies into everything you teach. The Components of STEAMScience involves observations of the natural world.Technology is not just things with wires and batteries – it’s anything that makes life better. So scissors are technology because they’re an improvement over a knife as a cutting tool; a pencil is technology because it’s an improvement over drawing in the dirt. Engineering involves creating something new within parameters. Engineering is NOT following directions. Following directions is an essential life skill, but it is not engineering. Example: if you follow the directions in a Lego fire truck kit to build the fire truck, you are following the directions. But if you take that same Lego fire truck kit and challenge yourself to build a boat, or a dirt bike, or a monster truck, that’s engineering.The Arts includes visual art, dance, theater, and music.Math involves numbers and patterns.Teaching with STEAM strategies doesn’t have to involve all the components at once; even one component, taught the right way, engages students in creative problem-solving and higher-order thinking. STEAM, in a nutshell, is the ability to look at something and ask: “what else could this be?” or “how else could I solve this problem?”Regular Physical EducationSTEAM Physical EducationCoach hands students a ball and tells them to go play soccer.Coach hands students a ball and challenges them to get the ball down the field without using their hands.For more activities and games with details about how STEM is already embedded in music class, see Activate with Rhythm by Jessica FredricksFor more hands-on STEM projects tied directly to music and writing standards, see Play Well With Others by Jessica FredricksBoth titles are available to The Engineering Design ProcessThe engineering design process (the one above was created by Engineering is Elementary) uses 5 steps to help students solve problems in a creative way. You can begin the process at any step, and it doesn’t have to go in order.Ask – what is the problem?Imagine – what are some ways to solve it?Plan – figure out how to implement the solutions you came up with; what would it look or sound like? What tools would you need?Create – design your solution in the real world, test it out!Improve – how can you make your design even better?Musicians who are engaged in improvisation are doing all 5 of these steps concurrently! Think about the brain power it takes to be in a constant state of creating and assessing your solution (solo or rhythmic contribution) in relation to what the group is playing!49815757556500Engineer a better drumstick!Ask: what kind of performance am I going to use the stick for? Indoors or outdoors? Will the stick hit metal, plastic, wood, or something else?Imagine: what kinds of materials could I use to make my drumstick? What designs are most pleasing to me? How long or short should the stick be? What kind of tip will it have? Brainstorm lots of ideas and solutions!Plan: figure out the steps necessary for you to actually construct the drumstick you envision; do you have the right materials? If not, what could you substitute or how could you get them?Create: take the idea you like best and build your drumstick, then test it out! How does it sound on wood? Metal? Plastic? What about using electrical tape for a colorful design on the stick? Does it change the balance? Does it change the way the stick sounds? Test it out; make notes, and test again!Improve: once you’ve tested your drumstick several times, ask yourself if you got the result you were hoping for. If not, tweak your design and test it again. If you did get the result you were hoping for, how can you make it even better?Language arts connection: have students write the results of their tests in the form of a journal or science lab report. Math connection: have student measure the length of their drumstick; what is the middle point? Are all their drumsticks the same length? Have them calculate the total inches of drumsticks being used in class; how many feet is that? Have students measure similar distances on school campus. Or send teams of students to find objects in the room whose length is equivalent to 2 pair of drumsticks or 3 pair of drumsticks. How far is it to their homeroom in drumsticks? 12 pair? 33 pair? How far is it to the library? The lunchroom? Arts connection: allow students to use different colors of electrical tape to decorate their drumsticks.Science connection: what kind of wood are the drumsticks made from? If you can’t tell, have students research the different types of wood that drumsticks are typically made from (oak, hickory, poplar, etc) and why those types of wood are used. Are those types of wood sustainably forested? Science: sound production!A wise man once said “Simplify. Simplify. Simplify.” Do that for your students.All sound is vibration; whether woodwind, brass, percussion or strings, anything that makes sound is vibrating at some level. The goal is for students to generate different ways of producing desirable sounds on the xylophone bars (resonance), and also to learn through experience how they might inadvertently produce undesirable tone quality (shock absorption). Suggestions are provided as examples for the teacher; empower the students to generate ideas and test their suggestions.Experiment #1: ResonanceHave students tap the xylophone bars with 3-5 different items, then write a description of how each material produced a different tone color. Some suggestions: unsharpened pencil (the eraser end, then the wooden end)Mallets: rubber, yarn, wooden ball, etc (tap with stick end, then ball end)Boomwacker or paper towel tubeRolled-up pieces of: newspaper, construction paper, copy paper, etc.Sticks they find outsideDrop small objects onto the barGive students 5 minutes (or 10, if they are actively engaged and on-task) to run their experiment, then remind them they have just 5 minutes to finish their written report.Writing connection: which object allowed them to produce the longest duration of sound? The shortest? The most pleasing? Ask them to describe the quality of the sound: was it crisp? Blurry? Sharp? Muddled?Name: _______________________________________________________________Item #1Item #2Item #3Item #4DurationSound qualityTechnology and Engineering: build a better resonator!Technology is not just things with wires and batteries – it’s anything that makes life better! In the case of xylophones, that means anything that makes it easier to play or sound better. Sing a simple song. Now cup your hands around your mouth and sing it again. Your hands form a cone that acts as an amplifier to make your voice louder. The sound hole in a guitar is another example of an amplifier. 371475081788000Xylophones use resonators to amplify the vibration of their bars. Some cultures build resonators out of metal tubes, one for each bar, while others use dried, hollowed-out gourds. Orff instruments use the “trough” approach, where the bars are suspended over one long box resonator.What else could you use to build a resonator?Design Challenge #1: build a better resonator!Compare a picture of the modern Orff xylophone with a trough resonator to a picture of an African gyil with gourd resonators. Then display a picture of a modern marimba with metal tube resonators. Ask students to discuss the benefits of each system and the drawbacks. If you can secure recordings of each type, that’s even better! Can they hear differences in tone quality? Can they describe those differences?Give each student a piece of paper and ask them to imagine their perfect resonator. Have them sketch it out and explain what materials it is made of. In writing, have them explain one way it is similar to the other resonators, and also one way it is different.Math: Surface Area!The surface area of an object affects the pitch it produces; objects with a greater surface area produce a lower sound, while objects with a smaller surface area produce a higher sound.Xylophone bars are the perfect way to teach surface area! You can do this two different ways, depending on what your students can handle:For 3-D: have them measure length, width, height of each bar, then multiply.For 2-D: have them measure length and height. Sometimes they’re not ready to multiply 3 numbers, or you think they might be confused by the fact that the entire bar isn’t a rectangle….the bottom side is usually concave to improve sound production. Your call – do what’s best for your students. Another day, you can also have students investigate the musical concept of intervals by assigning each bar a number. Many African gyil ensembles teach this way – by numbering the bars from largest to smallest. (So low C = 1, low D = 2, etc) You might even consider having them compose a piece using only numbers, and then throw in the concept of intervals as an after-thought!Language arts connection: have students write the results of their experiments and design challenges. This gives you an invaluable glimpse into how they think – and once you know how they think you have an edge on how to teach them!Math connection: after students measure the length of each xylophone bar, then calculate the total inches of wood used to make bars for each instrument. Have them divide by 12 to calculate how many feet that equals per xylophone. Sopranos will have fewer total feet of wood than altos, which will have fewer feet of wood than basses. Have students measure similar distances on school campus. How far is it to their homeroom class? 4 basses and a soprano? 3 altos and bass? How far is it to the library? The lunchroom? When you do this, you are using the language of substitution, and the language of substitution is algebraic thinking! When you engage in the language of substitution, you are training their brains for algebra! Shaker Design Project Name: ________________________The challenge: build a shaker that can ALSO be played by striking OR scraping.Extra points awarded for: incorporating shapes other than cylinders.Presentation: read your paragraph to the class, then demonstrate your shaker.Paragraph: Write a paragraph with at least 5 sentences explaining how your shaker is different from others. Why did you design your shaker this way? Explain how your shaker is an improvement from others we have studied.Week 1: Go over grading rubric, sketch your design, write a paragraph describing how your shaker is an improvement on other designs, make a list of materials to bring to class next week.Week 2: Bring your materials and all necessary supplies to class to build your shaker.Week 3: Begin presentations.Grading RubricExcellent Average PoorShakerInstrument complete and playable by shaking AND either shaking or striking.Instrument complete and playable by EITHER shaking, striking, or scraping.Instrument incomplete.ParagraphProper grammar and spelling; includes many details and 5 or more sentences.Few mistakes in grammar and spelling; includes some details and 3-4 sentences.Many mistakes in grammar and spelling; includes few details and 0-2 sentences.SketchAccurate sketch with many details included.Mostly accurate sketch with some details included.Mostly inaccurate sketch with few details included.1. What is your instrument called?_____________________________2. Describe a shaker that is different from your design.3. How is your design an improvement on other shakers?4. Sketch your instrument in the box below. Include details.7951728905. Write your paragraph below: ................
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