Waldorf Homeschool: Seventh Grade Physics — Sound II

As part of our unit on sound we made some "toys." The first is a bull roarer. It is essentially a can with a string run through a hole in the bottom of the can. The other end of the string is tied loosely around a stick. (or a wooden clothespin, as in our experiment.) You whip the can around overhead in a circle. The string rubs on the stick causing vibrations. The vibrations travel down the string to the can which amplifies the sound.

 

The second noise maker is called a lions roar. That is a flat piece of wood with a hole drilled in one end. a string is tied through the hole. Again you whip this about in a circle and the piece of wood vibrates in the air causing a "lion's roar."

Waldorf Education: Seventh Grade Physics — Sound

In trying to decide what to cover for seventh grade Physics, I perused the Main Lesson Book (MLB) of a friend of mine, who used to be a Waldorf teacher. I also looked over Eugene Schwartz's site to see what he prescribes for the block. So much to cover...what to choose? I chose Sound, Light, and Heat.

I decided to start with Sound, using books from the library to find appropriate experiments. My goals were to cove : What is Sound? What is Silence? How does Sound Effect Us? What Actions Cause Sound? What Effects the Quality of Sound? How Does Sound Travel?

I also took the opportunity to teach the Boy how to write out the process of the experiment using Question (Hypothesis), Procedure, Observation, and Conclusion. A format that was used when I was a kid. It may be obsolete due to new teaching methods, but my point was to get him to follow a process and be able to get that on paper.

Below are some photos of the Boy's MLB and some photos of our sound experiments. 

 

We filled bottles with varying amounts of water, then tried to determine what pitch each one registered.

Waldorf Homeschool: Seventh Grade Algebra

Today we started our Algebra/Geometry block. With the school year just beginning, we are usually ready to dive in. So I thought I'd put the toughest subject (for me to teach) right at the beginning, while I have the will and energy. Kind of like scheduling the most academic subjects in the morning, when the Boy's will is the strongest.

I have come a long, long way from my grammar school days of hating math. I never understood "why?" so it never made sense to me. By teaching math through a Waldorf perspective, I've learned to appreciate algebra and geometry. 

We've studied the history of math through our studies of ancient history, and the "why's" have become so much more evident. The concept of equations makes sense when you understand some of the history.

That is the approach I've decided to take with the Boy. In sixth grade we read "String, Straightedge, and Shadow," a book I would recommend to any math teacher or history teacher as a supplement to their curriculum.

It is not my goal to have the Boy be an algebraic wizard by the end of the year, but instead, to have a good understanding of what algebra is, why it came about, and how it can be used. Plus a basic understanding of formulas and proofs, and an understanding of how to solve equations. (process).

The Boy is like me in so many ways, and how he approaches math is one of them. He likes to know why things are done the way they are, why does he need to know this, how does it apply to real life? If I can give him some of those answers as we work our way through this block, he will have a much better foundation for increasingly difficult work. I want him to feel like he CAN do algebra rather than the way I felt all through school...that I stunk at it.

The Curriculum we are using is from Jamie York Press, Making Math Meaningful.  What I like about this curriculum is that I have to have a good grasp of the concepts because I am teaching it. He is not reading the book or watching a video...I am the teacher. Yes, that requires some work. But he's going to come to me for questions anyway. I might as well know the subject matter.

What I don't like is that there's no real lesson plan. Just the concepts to cover separated by grade. So I have to figure out how much I want to cover in each lesson. The author assumes the teacher has knowledge of each concept. It's explained in the teacher's book, but only briefly. Thank goodness for Google and Youtube. (Jamie York has several Youtube vids that are really helpful.)