Emily Walak ECE 380-2 Echolocation in Action! Essays - Sonar, Sound

Emily Walak ECE 380-2 Echolocation in Action! Big Idea: Animals use echolocation to see the location of objects. Essential Questions: What is echolocation? How do animals use echolocation? What do engineers use that mimics natural echolocation? PA Learning Standards for Early Childhood Pre-Kindergarten 2010 S4.B.1.1 - Identify and describe similarities and differences between living things and their life processes. S4.B.1.1.1 - Identify life processes of living things (e.g., growth, digestion, respiration). S4.C.2.1 - Recognize basic energy types and sources, or describe how energy can be changed from one form to another. S4.C.2.1.4 - Identify characteristics of sound (e.g., pitch, loudness, reflection). Vocabulary Echolocation - the use of sound waves and echoes to determine where objects are in space. Bats use echolocation to navigate and find food in the dark. To echolocate, bats send out sound waves from their mouth or nose. When the sound waves hit an object they produce echoes. The echoes are then received by the bat. Sonar - the method of echolocation used in air or water by engineers to mimic animals such as bats or whales. Radar - a system for detecting the presence, direction, distance, and speed of aircraft, ships, and other objects, by sending out pulses of electromagnetic waves that are reflected off the object back to the source. Resources: Book: Berk, A. (2012). Nightsong. New York, NY: Scholastic Inc. Cite: Hands-on activity: Echolocation in action! (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/cub_soundandlight_lesson4_activity1 Misconceptions: Bats are blind. All marine mammals use echolocation. Materials: Each group needs Blindfold Portable writing surface (clipboard, hard cover book, folder, etc.) 2 pencils Variety of crayons 2 copies of the Echolocation Worksheet 2 copies of the Echolocation Bar Graph Worksheet Grouping: The students will be paired up in groups of 2 for this activity. Engage: Read the book Nightsong by: Art Berk We have been talking about sound waves and how animals and engineers use sound waves to "see" underwater or in the dark. Who remembers what it is called when animals do this? (Answer: echolocation) That's right echolocation! What do you think Chiro's "good sense" was in the story? (Answer: echolocation) Engineers developed a technology based on the natural echolocation that animals use. It works pretty much the same way, but we call it something different. Who remembers what it is called? (Answer: SONAR) Terrific! SONAR is a great example of how engineers can learn from the world around us and use ideas from nature to create new ways to help people. Today you are going to have a chance to try out echolocation for yourselves just like Chiro from our book. We are going to break up into teams of two. Then, one person wears a blindfold and guesses where the sound is coming from as the other person makes snapping or clapping noises in front of them, behind them or to their side. It is a fun challenge to learn about echolocation. Are you ready to try it out? Let's get started! Transition: Break students up into groups of two and have them go to different areas of the room. Explore: Break the students into groups of two. For each team, have one student sit in a chair and the other stand nearby with the Echolocation Worksheet. Have students gently blindfold their partner so that they are unable to see. Remind them not to peek! Have the non-blindfolded student snap or clap their fingers while the other student guesses the location from where the snap came. Students should record their partner's response on the Echolocation Worksheet after each snap/clap. Have students follow the Echolocation Worksheet for all nine snaps or claps, and record all responses on the sheet. Students should put a check mark if their partner guessed correctly and an X if they guessed incorrectly. Ask students to write down the number of times they guessed correctly for each location (side, behind or in front). Have students switch places and repeat the procedures. Once both students have guessed, have them give each other their worksheets, so they can use them to create their own bar graphs. Help students color in their Echolocation Bar Graph Worksheet with the number of times that they guessed correctly for each location. Transition: Have students come back to their desks for whole group instruction. Explain: Tell the students that sound