So during the course of this lesson, my students were posed with the problem of noise pollution in the educational setting. They used I Pads initially to document the decibel levels of sound throughout various places in the school. These were places they were either a part of such as the gym or library, or places they passed on their way to other classes or their own room. They were amazed at how high some of the levels were. I think the one that surprised them the most was the cafeteria. Our classroom is right about the cafeteria, so from 10:30 AM-1:15 PM daily my students learn to focus their attention no matter the noise level.
Once this process was completed, my students then were tasked with creating noise barriers using a variety of materials from air pouches to cottonballs or spray foam and they again documented the decibel readings before and after their application. For this part of the experiment, we used a Rock-It amplifier to exhibit how sound travels and its decibel level and then once the barriers were in place, we repeated the process.
Since true science involves repeated trials, we had six groups (due to the time constraint) and each group had a different media to test. The results were then shared as a whole group and the percent of change in decibel readings was recorded. The students graphed the results, and then were tasked with writing persuasive letters to the Principal to suggest ways that she could improve the levels of noise pollution in the building.
What did I/we discover? Well, the cafeteria is the hardest place to sound proof or prevent from travelling due to the sheer volume of students in that area. The other thing that we discovered is that cottonballs muffle the sound, but they do not truly prevent the transmission. Lastly, we found that the most effective means in the building would be spray foam insulation. It fills all air space and prevented the sound from travelling.
Every aspect of this experience went well, except for the letter writing. My students struggled with persuasive language, even though we had covered it. They need more direct instruction and implementation to pull this one off. Also, since I have ESL and SPED students, it made this area even more difficult to master. We ended up scraping individual letters and writing a group letter based on others we had read in the local Letters to the Editor column.
