The aim of this paper is to provide physics teachers and physics students with interdisciplinary cultural and scientific related content. The "dombra" is on the one hand a cultural symbol of Kazakhstan with a long tradition. On the other hand, the dombra as a musical instrument is an object of interest in acoustics. The topic can lead to…

Children have a natural curiosity about sound. This is particularly evident in the context of musical play. The potential of play for music learning may be overshadowed by a teacher-led and performance-focused approach to music education rather than an organic, self-initiated approach. By bringing together the child's natural curiosity about…

Students in introductory physics courses encounter harmonics when they study standing waves on strings and in pipes. The Fourier spectrum, which plots amplitude against harmonic number, can describe all periodic tones imaginable. However, most sounds are aperiodic and therefore have additional spectral components. A real-world application that…

Learning and understanding physics requires more than studying physics texts. It requires doing physics. Doing research is a key opportunity for students to connect physical principles with their everyday experience. A powerful way to introduce students to research and technique is through subjects in which they might find interest. Presented is…

Most young children love a good song and dance, an enticing story, and gorgeous illustrations. How could this staple of the early childhood classroom--music and literature--access children's ideas about physical science? How can young children communicate their knowledge of unseen science concepts that are not easily represented in pictures? These…

My unit on sound and waves is embedded within a long-term project in which my high school students construct a musical instrument out of common materials. The unit culminates with a performance assessment: students play the first four measures of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"--chosen because of the octave interval of the first two notes--in the key…

The physics of the plucked string has been treated in many articles and books. For our 12th-grade high school physics laboratory, we have built a cheap, simple sonometer apparatus for each pair of students on which they may investigate some interesting phenomena that arise when a string is plucked. Among these are the generation of harmonics…

This article describes science activities which introduce students to the mechanics of sound while encouraging class musicians to share their expertise. A reproducible activity sheet is included. (IAH)

The National Standards for Arts Education encourages teachers to help students make connections between music and other disciplines. Many state curriculum guides likewise encourage educators to integrate curricula and find common ground between different subjects. Music--particularly vocal music--offers ample opportunities to find relationships…

Describes the use of chromatic musical instrument tuners to make frequency measurements of sound waves and as an exercise in the conversion of pitch to frequency. (ZWH)

Presents hands-on science activities that help students learn the concepts of hearing and sound while allowing students to practice science process skills. Students investigate the use of alternative phonograph speakers and needles and apply the knowledge learned to the construction of one-string banjos. (MDH)

Offers experiments and activities designed to help students understand the qualities of sound. Provides directives on how to construct simple musical instruments. Suggests ways to help students discriminate differences in pitch, dynamics, and rhythm. (ML)