Grade 1:  Waves

1.PS4.1 Plan and conduct investigations to provide evidence that vibrating materials can make sound and that sound can make materials vibrate.

1.PS4.4 Use tools and materials to design and build a device that uses light or sound to solve the problem of communicating over a distance.* 

In a Nutshell

Students conduct investigations and demonstrate that when materials vibrate, they can make a sound. Sounds can also make materials vibrate. Students use tools and materials to show that people can use a variety of devices to communicate over long distances. These devices can use both light and/or sound to send and receive information.

Student Actions

Teacher Actions 

• Plan and conduct an investigation to gather evidence that supports the idea that sound can make matter vibrate.

• Plan and conduct an investigation to gather evidence that supports the idea that vibrating matter can make sound.

• Plan and conduct an investigation to gather information about how people communicate with others who are far away.

• Design and build a device that solves a problem to communicate by sound or light over a distance.

• Design and build a device to communicate with other people using sound or light.

• Provide different types of materials students can use to investigate how sound can make matter vibrate.

• Provide opportunities for students to plan and conduct investigations to show matter can make sound.

• Assist students with asking questions, making observations, and planning/conducting investigations  to gather information about how people communicate with others who are far away.

• Assist students in applying their knowledge of light and sound to design and build a device that uses sound or light to communicate with other people over a distance.

Key Concepts 

Misconceptions 

Wave Properties

• Sound can make matter vibrate, and vibrating matter can make sound.

Information Technologies and Instrumentation

• People also use a variety of devices to communicate (send and receive information) over long distances. 

Influence of Engineering, Technology, and Science on Society and the Natural World 

• People depend on various technologies in their lives; human life would be very different without technology.

• As waves move, matter moves along with them.

• In a telephone, actual sounds are carried through the wire rather than electrical pulses.

• Sound can only travel through air.

Instructional Resources 

Unit 2: Waves