From elementary school music teacher Cherrie Herring, here’s a module on helping students see sound!

Can we SEE sound and vibration? To explore cymatics, the study of sound and vibration made visible, my 4th graders created Chladni patterns with a tonoscope. In fact, the Chladni Patters, Tonoscope, and Green Screen Magic made this an unforgettable introduction to sound. I had them record their Chladni patterns on their iPads and upload images and video to their Seesaw account. Then I used their videos and images to make a background video. This was an early activity in their sound unit meant to pique their curiosity, and boy did it! The green screen was up so the kids wanted to pretend they were in the sound waves…. here’s how it all happened.

The green screen was up in my music room and the students wanted to pretend they were on the top of the surface feeling the sound waves. The video above is a combination of the Chladni patterns created on the tonoscope mixed with green screen magic in 4th grade. Since this was just a teaser for the upcoming sound unit, they only have a basic understanding of the way sound can be made visible. However, they get it! The higher the pitch, the more intricate the pattern and the lower the pitch, the less intricate the pattern.

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