A thematic unit that will demonstrate the relationship between size/pitch of an instrument and
the importance of clean water and water supply history of New York
Pre lesson
Graphing Pitch
Grade Levels: 6
This group activity explains the musical relationship between the length of instruments and
their pitch.
Objectives
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Students will collect, organize, and graph data, demonstrating their grasp of the
relationship between the length of an instrument and its pitch.
Materials
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A keyboard, bells, piano, Bass guitar, Drum set, marimbas
Instruments from the school band, orchestra, or from among those made by the
students
Coordinate graphing (grid) paper
Rulers or tape measures, tape measuring ( ikea ) tape
Procedure
1. Set up seven stations of three to five instruments each grouping instruments by family
and using only instruments, such as stringed instruments, marimbas, or panpipes, for
which "length" can be easily determined. Label four of the stations, "Take
measurements first." Label the remaining stations, "Verify pitch first."
2. Assign students to seven groups of four or more students.
o Have each group assign a secretary, who will record the final data of all students
in the group.
o Ask each student, except for the secretary, to measure the length of various
instruments and determine the instruments' pitch. Make certain that they
measure the sounding length of instruments; for example, on instruments in the
violin family, the measurement should be made from the top of the fingerboard
to the bridge. On brass instruments, the students will have to measure the
complete length of all tubing used to play a given note.
3. Have groups 1, 2, 3, and 4 take all length measurements first. Have groups 5, 6, and 7
verify the pitch of the instruments first (using the keyboard or another fixed-pitch
instrument as a standard and matching pitches).
4. Have each student graph his or her data on a coordinate graph, making sure to graph
the instruments in order by length. Alternatively, have the students graph the data on
graphing calculators.
5. Ask the secretary of each group to take all the group data and plot it on an overhead
transparency of a coordinate graph, making sure that the data is graphed in order by
length of instrument. The length of the instrument should be graphed on the y-axis; the
pitch on the x-axis.
6. Ask each secretary to present the group findings to the entire class, using the overhead.
7. Ask the students to summarize what they discovered in this project. This may be done in
class discussion or, for evaluation, in writing on the students' data sheets.
Standards Correlations
Mathematics
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Standard 1: Mathematics as problem-solving
Standard 2: Mathematics as communication
Standard 4: Mathematics as connections
Standard 13: Measurement
Music Education
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Standard 6: Listening to, analyzing, and describing music
Standard 8: Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines
outside the arts
Lesson: Field Trip: Uncovering Central Park reservoir and building tin bottle flute
Objectives:
Students understand the idea and history he reservoir
Concepts learned in the classroom lessons are reinforced (about pitch and size of an
instrument
Vocabulary: reservoir, aqueduct
Materials: clean tin soda bottles, water fountains
New York State Elementary Learning Standards Key Ideas and Performance Indicators:1
Interconnectedness: Common Themes Key Idea MST6.ST1: Through systems thinking, people
can recognize the commonalities that exist among all systems and how parts of a system
interrelate and combine to perform specific functions.
Introduction: History of the reservoir. Tour Script: (30 minutes)
Students and teacher will gather near the entrance to the park on east 90th street and 5Ave.
At that location I will talk to the students regarding reservoir history and the importance of the
clean Water supply:
 Officially named the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir in 1994, the Reservoir’s
perimeter 1.58 mile is favorite jogging spot of Jackie O, Bill Clinton, Madonna and a
number of other influential people
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Built in the 1862 as a temporary water supply for New York City, while the Croton Water
system was shut down for repairs two weeks each year.
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Covers approximately 1/8th of the Park and hold over a billion gallons of water. 40 feet
deep, with 106-acre body of water located on 85th Street to 96th Street, from east to
west
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At the time, it was unthinkable that a billion gallons of water would last less than two
weeks
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Today, some speculate that the City would go through that supply in just four hours
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The reservoir was decommissioned in 1993, deemed obsolete because of the Third
Water Tunnel
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For years, an unsightly seven-foot-high chain-link fence obscured the view
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Scuba divers discovered a piece of the original fence at the bottom of the reservoir,
Central Park Conservancy commissioned a steel fence with cast-iron ornamentation,
closely resembling the original.
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The current fence was completed in 2003, stands four feet high, and has opened up
breathtaking views of the Park and surrounding cityscapes
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Central Park appears to be a natural environment – but in fact, this park was carefully
designed by the famed landscape architects Frederick Law Olmstead and Calvert Vaux
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The most prominent natural features that have remained unchanged for millennia are
the park’s giant boulders, which were deposited during the glacial retreat of the
continent’s last ice age, 18,000 years ago, and haven’t moved since
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The ponds and lakes in the park were all created by people diverting the naturally
flowing water in the area
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Dutch dug shallow wells filled with briny and the water wasn’t particularly good in any
of them.
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It didn’t matter too much for drinking because the Dutch basically drank beer.
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Nobody drank water straight in those days and the water they got from their wells was
boiled in the process of making beer.
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The Dutch give up New Amsterdam to the English later in 1664.
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One of the reasons Peter Stuyvesant gives for his prompt surrender is that he hadn’t dug
a well in his fort at the foot of Broadway to water his troops under siege from the
English.
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Move from the east 90 street and 5 Ave to the rim of the reservoir at around 90 street and
follow the path south. At the southern east corner gathers by the south gatehouse @ 86th
Street, at southern edge of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir
 Historic Use: regulation and distribution of water from Central Park Reservoir (now
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir) to Manhattan below 86th Street
 not currently in use decommissioned: 1993
 Period(s) of Construction: 1862
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The South Gatehouse played a crucial role in distributing water to Manhattan, and its
sturdy presence and prominent location in Central Park rendered it a strong visual
representation of the Croton system.
Activity: Building a tin bottle group flute
1
I will demonstrate to kids that by adding the water from the fountain the pitch of
the note produce by the bottle changes
2 I will ask the kids previously assigned to groups by adding and pouring water out
to produce and being able to play “Marry had a little lamb”.
Wrap-up (20 Minutes)
The children will play the song in groups
The group with the song that sounded closest to actual song wins
Post Lesson
Extension activities: at the classroom students will write their reflection on the trip and the
flute building activity