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Students will gain exposure to careers that utilize waves such as sound, light, and water waves. 

Subject:  Physical Science
Topic:  Using Sound & Light Waves on the Job!
Grade Level: 9-12
Student Lesson name and URL:http://ctap295.ctaponline.org/~dpower/student/

4. Waves have characteristic properties that do not depend on the type of wave. As a 
basis for understanding this concept:

a. Students know waves carry energy from one place to another.
b. Students know how to identify transverse and longitudinal waves in mechanical media, such as springs and ropes, and on the earth (seismic waves).
d. Students know sound is a longitudinal wave whose speed depends on the properties of the medium in which it propagates.
 

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• Compare and contrast the transfer of energy in a rope,  water waves, sound waves, and light waves.
• Draw diagrams illustrating the difference between longitudinal and transverse waves.
• Construct a map of rock layers in the Earth's interior based upon seismic wave variation of sound waves traveling through layers in the Earth.. 
• Perform a seismic interpretation using actual geophysical data
• Complete a Scavenger Hunt of light waves as applied to compact discs.

 

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Introductory Activity
     Students  will participate in direct instruction with a teacher-designed presentation of Waves: Sound & Light.  Delivery of direct instruction will be supplemented with teacher demonstrations, laboratory activities, and student projects. 

Enabling Activity(ies)
     Students will gain an appreciation for careers such as musicians, computer technicians, and even school teachers who use light when they use Compact Discs (CDs) in the job.  Students will go online to perform an informational Scavenger Hunt (requires Office 2000) to learn "How Compact Discs (CDs) Work. 

Culminating Activity
  Students will get exposure to seismologists/geophysicists who use sound waves to study the Earths' interior.  The culminating activity is a  seismic interpretation exercise. designed for high school students.  The student directions are presented in the form of a memo from an exploration geophysicist who presents the problem and student expectations. 
 

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The pretest has ten multiple-guess questions that are designed to test students' understanding that "waves carry energy'.  Students are expected to identify transverse and longitudinal waves.  Students are expected to recognize these waves using media such as springs, ropes, and slinkys (c).  Students must be able to apply this knowlege to seismic waves inside the Earth.  Students gain an appreciation for seismologists who use sound waves to study the Earth's interior. 

Click Here to Go to Pretest (Web page)
Click Here to Go to Pretest (Word Document)

Click Here to Go to Funbrain Quiz Lab
 

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Results
After implementing this lesson, the chart of the pre-test, post-test, and culminating assessment data is posted..
The graph shows the average student growth of approximately  percentage points from the pre-test to the post-test.

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Web Resources & Supplementary Materials

Introductory Activity
Web resources for this activity include: 
PowerPoint "Waves: Sound & Light"

Enabling Activity
Web resources for this activity include:
Scavenger Hunt
How CD's Work: http://www.howstuffworks.com/cd.htm

Culminating Activity
Resources for this activity here include:
Seismic Memo Stating the Problem to be Resolved
Seismic Line D
Seismic Line H
Seismic Line Y
Seismic Line Z
Location Map

For more activities, also see Roy G. Biv Lives at:  http://ctap295.ctaponline.org/~davidson/student/
 

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