About Sound as a Pressure Wave

Highly Recommended
Like all our Science Reasoning Center activities, the completion of the Sound as a Pressure Wave activity requires that a student use provided information about a phenomenon, experiment, or data presentation to answer questions. This information is accessible by tapping on the small thumbnails found on the bottom right of every question. However, it may be considerably easier to have a printed copy of this information or to display the information in a separate browser window. You can access this information from this page. 





The Standards
The Sound as a Pressure Wave activity serves as a great introduction to the nature of a sound wave. Students are presented a short reading regarding sound waves. The reading focuses on the pressure oscillations of a sound wave and provides two diagrams and two plots of pressure as a function of time for two different sound sources. Students must interpret the plots in light of the terminology presented in the reading. Students learn about compressions, rarefactions, wavelength, frequency, period, and pressure.

Success with Sound as a Pressure Wave requires some degree of understanding or proficiency with respect to ...

• Developing and Using Models (Science and Engineering Practice 2.3)
  Develop, revise, and/or use a model based on evidence to illustrate and/or predict the relationships between systems or between components of a system.
• Analyzing and Interpreting Data(Science and Engineering Practice 4.1)
  Analyze data using tools, technologies, and/or models (e.g., computational, mathematical) in order to make valid and reliable scientific claims or determine an optimal design solution.
• Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions (Science and Engineering Practice 6.3)
  Apply scientific ideas, principles, and/or evidence to provide an explanation of phenomena and solve design problems, taking into account possible unanticipated effects.
• Patterns (Crosscutting Concept 1.1)
  Different patterns may be observed at each of the scales at which a system is studied and can provide evidence for causality in explanations of phenomena.
• Stability and Change (Crosscutting Concept 7.1)
  Much of science deals with constructing explanations of how things change and how they remain stable.

While Sound as a Pressure Wave activity addresses the three NextGen Science and Engineering Practices and the two Crosscutting Concepts above, the task draws its greatest inspiration from ACT's College Readiness Standards for Science Reasoning. The task consists of 35 questions organized into 10 Question Groups and spread across the two activities. Two of the three strands (Interpretation of Data - IOD; and Evaluation of Models, Inferences, and Experimental Results - EMI) of the College Readiness Standards are addressed in this activity. The code given for the standard includes three letters to indicate the strand (IOD) and three numbers to indicate the specific standard within that strand. Higher numbers are indicative of more complex science reasoning skills. The relationship between the questions and the standards is as follows:  




Complementary and Similar Resources
The following resources at The Physics Classroom website complement the Sound as a Pressure Wave Science Reasoning Activity. Teachers may find them useful for supporting students and/or as components of lesson plans and unit plans.

Physics Classroom Tutorial, Sound Waves and Music: Sound is a Pressure Wave

Physics Interactives, Waves and Sound: Simple Wave Simulator

Concept Builders, Waves and Sound: Wave Basics

Concept Builders, Waves and Sound: Wavelength

Minds On Physics, Sound Waves and Music, Mission SM1 - Nature of a Sound Wave

Minds On Physics, Sound Waves and Music, Mission SM2 - Characteristics of Sound Waves