- children's rubber band guitars
- higher
- pitch
- pluck
- stretch
MA Standards:
English Language Arts/Speaking and Listening/SL.PK.MA.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners during daily routines and play.
MA Draft STE Standards:
Physical Sciences/Energy and PS4.B Apply their understanding in their play of how to change volume and pitch of some sounds.
Head Start Outcomes:
Logic and Reasoning/Reasoning and Problem Solving Recognizes cause and effect relationships.
Logic and Reasoning/Reasoning and Problem Solving Classifies, compares, and contrasts objects, events, and experiences.
PreK Learning Guidelines:
Science and Technology/Inquiry Skills 1 Ask and seek out answers to questions about objects and events with the assistance of interested adults.
Science and Technology/Inquiry Skills 2 Make predictions about changes in materials or objects based on past experience.
Science and Technology/Technology and Engineering 23 Explore and describe a wide variety of natural and man-made materials through sensory experiences.
Explore Together (indoors): Rubber Band Music
© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care (Jennifer Waddell photographer). All rights reserved.
STEM Key Concepts: An action has to happen to make a sound; Sounds vary in pitch
ELA Focus Skills: Active Listening, Vocabulary
Gather children around the materials and invite them to talk about and demonstrate some of the discoveries they have already made while exploring similar materials this week. As children explore, watch closely for things that draw their interest or areas that would prompt a meaningful discussion.
- While children pluck their guitars, notice when they use their other hand to pick up the length of rubber band stretched over the top of the box to stretch it tighter and change the pitch of the sound. Ask, What do you think will happen if you stretch the rubber band even tighter? Let’s try it. The more children stretch the rubber band, the higher the pitch will get.
- Whenever possible, help children to pull the bands tighter so they can explore plucking it with different tensions. Have them instruct you to either loosen or tighten the band to create the sound they want, and have them describe the sound they want to achieve.