(5E Lesson Plan Template)
Creator: Sarah Geren
Title of Lesson: Sounds in nature—animal interactions, and how we alter them
Intended Grade Level(s):
Grades 7 & 8
Main Objective(s):
1) To learn the different ways in which sound is used by living organisms, and various reasons that
sound is needed.
2) To introduce students to the concept of noise pollution
3) To expand students’ knowledge of local fauna, and be able to recognize a variety of animals by
sound.
Arizona State Science Standards Addressed:
1) Design an investigation to test individual variables using scientific processes.
2) Communicate the results and conclusion of the investigation
3) Analyze environmental risks (e.g., pollution, destruction of habitat) caused by human interaction
with biological or geological systems.
4) Explain how an organism’s behavior allows it to survive in an environment.
Common Core Standards Addressed:
1) What are the characteristic properties and behaviors of waves?
2) Human impacts on Earth systems: Human activities have significantly altered the biosphere,
sometimes damaging or destroying natural habitats and causing the extinction of other species.
But changes to Earth’s environments can have different impacts (negative and positive) for
different living things.
Suggested Supplemental Teacher Resources – References/ Websites:
1) http://jeb.biologists.org/content/207/3/427.full: This is an article about the effects of different
sound levels and durations on goldfish:
2) http://www.dosits.org/animals/effectsofsound/marinemammals/strandings/: This website is
great for general information about sound as well as for information about sound in marine
habitats.
3) http://www.inspirationgreen.com/noise-pollution-alters-bird-behavior.html: For general
information on noise pollution
4) http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/12/061206-birds-cities_2.html and
http://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(06)02308-6: For effects of urban
noise on bird songs.
Lesson Plan Description:
Animals use sound for a variety of reasons, and we are exposed to some of these sounds on a daily
basis. The first part of this lesson will get students thinking about the different reasons sound is used,
and will introduce them to some of the sounds they can hear even in urban areas. If there is not a good
location near the school to listen for animal sounds, then the teacher should have some sound clips or
videos of local fauna producing sound to show in class. Students will learn about sound waves, how
animals use sounds, and how anthropogenic sound can affect animals, which is the focus of the second
part of the lesson. After learning about behavioral changes and masking affects related to
anthropogenic sound, students will get to observe these effects by exposing goldfish to different kinds
of sound and observing how the goldfish reacts. Students will then get to present their experiments to
the rest of the class.
Engage
Purpose:
This section of the class is intended to introduce students to the concept of sounds in
nature through observation of local fauna.
Materials:
Access to the outdoors where birds, bugs, or other local animals can be heard. If this is
not possible, or there were not sufficient examples, the teacher can play recordings of
sounds of local fauna. For example, the teacher can visit the Cornell Lab of
Ornithology’s lab http://www.allaboutbirds.org/Page.aspx?pid=1189 for a multitude of
bird songs. Youtube can be used to find sounds from other local animals.
Instructional Sequence:
1. Show students a few extreme examples of sounds in nature. Present it as a
game, and ask students to guess what they think the animal making the sound
may be.
2. Explain that the class will be spent studying the role of sound in nature.
3. Take students outside, and have them bring paper and something to write
with.
4. Spend 3-5 minutes (depending on length of class—could be more time if class
is long, or if few sounds are heard in this time) silently listening for animals
sounds. Instruct students to write down any sounds that they recognize. The
teacher should note sounds as well.
5. Bring students back inside and ask them to describe what they heard. If they
know the name of the animal making the sound, they can share the name with
the class. If they do not know the name of the animal, they can describe the
sound, or even try to make the sound (it may be necessary to give a 5-10
second time limit on duration of sounds, as some students may get carried
away and distract the class).
6. Spend some time, depending on the length of the class, sharing some of the
sounds so all the students can hear and identify it.
Exploration
Safety:
Students should be told not to try to touch or pick up any animals seen outside.
Students should only be listening for sounds and making notes while outside unless
otherwise directed by the teacher.
Purpose:
Now that students are familiar with the concept that animals use sounds, this section will
serve to elicit from students possible reasons an animal would need to produce sounds,
and to give some examples
Materials:
Some videos or sound clips would be necessary to give scenarios, however examples
would be specific to location and class.
Instructional Sequence:
 Conduct a think-pair-share exercise: Tell students to talk to a partner and write
down all the reasons they can come up with that animals would need to use
sound, then have them pair up or get into small groups to discuss their ideas.
 Ask students to share their ideas with the whole class. If students have
difficulty coming up with reasons, help guide them to some possibilities by
asking them to think of different reasons they use sound in their daily lives, and
examples of animals using sound for the same reason.
o Explain echolocation when predation or navigation is brought up
(Using reflected sound waves to locate objects (bats, dolphins, toothed
whales))
 Present students with several scenarios (i.e. walking through the desert and
hearing a rattling sound from a snake, a lone mockingbird running through a
series of sounds it has learned to mimic, two cats growling and hissing at each
other) and ask them to explain what reason the animals in each scenario may
have for making a sound.
Explanation Purpose: Now that students have been exposed to various animal sounds and have
begun to think about the multitude of ways that sounds are used in nature, they should
be introduced to some mechanics of sounds and how anthropogenic sound affects
animals.
Materials:
Examples of sounds students are likely familiar with. For an exercise being done in
Phoenix, some possibilities are:
 Rattlesnake: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7raYkYyB1wo
 Cricket: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQFEY9RIRJA
Instructional Sequence:
1. Explain that sound is produced by vibrating objects compressing and expanding
the air around them to create sound waves. Use examples, such as instruments
and vocal chords, or return to some of the videos of sound being produced that
were shown in the engage section.
2. Animals can manipulate tone, pitch, volume, and other aspects of sound to
communicate in different ways.
3. Noise pollution and other anthropogenic sounds: Introduce the idea that
humans make a lot of noise, and this has effects on animals.
a. Behavioral changes: First, see if the students can think of potential
behavior changes and write them down, as these will be referred to
during the next activity. Some examples include hiding, mimicry (like
the Northern mockingbird mimicking a car alarm), reducing or altering
the pitch and intensity of sound (pilot whales stop vocalizing around oil
field drilling, humpback whale increasing dive time and travel distance,
beluga whales swimming away from food source to avoid ice break
ships, European robins change the time they sing, Great tits don’t sing
at lower frequencies, and German nightingales sing louder)
b. Masking: Explain what “masking” is in this sense (when a sound that is
either natural or anthropogenic prevents other sounds from being
heard), and ask students to brainstorm what sort of important sounds
might be masked by human activities. Answers should be written down
for the next activity. Some answers that students may name are
masking of predatory sounds, other environmental dangers, and other
individuals of the same species communicating. Ask the students why
these abilities are important for an animal to have.
c. Hearing impairment or loss: If animals are exposed to very loud sound,
or to a sound for a long period of time, it can affect their hearing,
shifting up their hearing threshold, or the softest sound the animal can
hear at a specific frequency.
d. Stranding: Stranding is when a single marine mammal or group of
marine mammals are stranded on shore, often for unknown reason.
Naval sonar has been connected to mass strandings of beaked whales,
a species where stranding is usually very uncommon. The link between
sonar and the strandings is not well known at this point, and research
is necessary.
Extend/
Elaboration
Purpose: To use the information about the effects of anthropogenic sounds on animals
learned in the previous section to study how different sounds affect goldfish.
Materials:
large tanks or clear plastic tubs
hissing cockroaches
variously weighted objects (i.e. rocks of different sizes)
fruits or vegetables for food
plants, rocks, or other objects that the cockroaches can use to hide in.
Instructional Sequence:
1. Instruct students to look at the four kinds of effects anthropogenic sound can
have on animals. Explain that they will be using the hissing cockroaches and
other materials to test some of these effects. Ask students which of the four
categories they think they will be able to test.
2. Students should come to the conclusion that stranding cannot be tested in the
classroom. While hearing impairment and loss could technically be tested, if
Evaluation
the students do not reject it, then inform them that this option will not be
tested.
3. Show students the materials they have and tell them to think of ways that they
can use these to design an experiment. Some possibilities include:
a. Test response to short sound burst by providing tank decorations to
hide behind.
b. Test response to sound in presence of food to see if they would
abandon it, leave and return later, or continue eating. Students can
test different placements of sound and food.
c. Test how the sound affects predator response. Students may play a
predator’s sound, and see how the response changes when different
levels of ambient noise are also present.
d. Show how different lengths of exposure to sounds affects response.
Purpose: To allow students to show comprehension of the topics discussed, and to gain
experience presenting an experiment. It will also familiarize the students with the
different ways that the topic can be studied.
Materials: If desired, students can create a PowerPoint or poster to present their
project.
Instructional Sequence:
1. Have students present their experiment and what they observed to the other
students in the class. They should use concepts and vocabulary learned during
the lesson.
Possible Alternatives and Troubleshooting:
For older students, the lesson can go into more detail about the mechanics of sound. The experiment
can be expanded to not only test how sound affects fish, but to apply the knowledge of this behavior
and the mechanics of sound. Have the students imagine that they are part of a company that will be
doing some activity that produces sound under water, such as oil drilling, construction, or mining. They
must determine what types of sound affect the fish in the area (in this case, it’s goldfish), and then using
information about the work site and the mechanics of sound, they should design a worksite that
minimizes effects on the fish.
If the class does not have access to enough of the equipment necessary for several groups of students to
do their own experiments, then the teacher can give an example and have students describe the fish’s
response. If possible, there should be at least two different trials, one for short sound bursts, and
another for longer consistent sounds.