Sounds Around    

Adapted from Sharing Nature with Children, Volume 2 excerpt.

Did you know?

Humans are predominantly visual creatures. Many animals though, particularly nocturnal ones, rely more on their sense of hearing than sight.  Some creatures, like bats or whales, emit and hear sounds at frequencies that the human ear cannot detect. Cupping your hands behind your ears provides a reflective surface for catching sounds, creating a shape like the sensitive ‘radar’ ears of a fox or bat. To hear sounds behind you, you need not turn your head, but just cup your hands in front of your ears.

Before the activity

This activity can be trialled first in the school grounds, for comparative purposes. Take enough 4x6 index cards and pencils for each person in the group. Small ‘carry mat’ squares or plastic bags for each person to sit on is useful. Also - (optional) a long piece of string, and clothes pegs for each card. Assemble your group, ideally using a sound like a whistle or Tibetan singing bowl.  Discuss senses and why we have them. What does a dog or cat do with its ears when it is listening to sounds moving around them? Who can move their ears without touching them? Focus on sound. Practice with the group the need to be quiet, and the ear cupping technique to ‘trap’ sounds.

The activity

To play, begin by showing the group a 4 x 6 index card with an X in the centre. Tell the players the card is a map, and that the X shows where they're sitting. When they hear a sound, they should make a mark on the card that aptly describes the sound. The mark's location should indicate as accurately as possible the direction and distance of the sound. The marks should be interpretive, not literal: the players don't have to draw pictures of plants and animals, just a few lines that represent the sound - for example, 2 wavy lines indicating wind, or a musical note indicating a songbird. In other words, they should spend little time drawing and most of the time listening.

Tell the players to keep their eyes closed while they listen, and use the ear cupping technique.

Select a site where the group is likely to hear a variety of sounds. Give the group one minute to each find a special "listening place" quickly, sit on their mat, and tell them to stay in the same spot until the end of the game. Giving the players enough time to disperse fairly widely will ensure a diversity of sound maps and greater interest in sharing. Tell everyone you will use sound to bring them together again – bell, whistle etc.

After 5-10 call the group back together by your chosen sound. As the players assemble, ask them to share their maps with a partner.

It's sometimes hard to find a site that's protected from the sounds of cars and machinery, but these noisy areas are ideal for teaching lessons about noise pollution. Have the children make two sound maps, the first one near a busy street and the second in a quiet, natural spot. After the game, ask them where they felt more comfortable. This is a fine way to build children's conscious appreciation of natural areas.

Suggested follow-up

After the children have drawn their maps and shared them, you can ask questions such as: 

• How many different sounds did you hear? 
• Which sounds did you like best? Why?
• Which sounds did you like least? Why?
• Which sounds had you never heard before? 
• Do you know what made the sounds?         

Instead of having them answer aloud, you can ask them to circle the sounds they'd never heard before, draw one line under sounds they liked best and 2 lines under the sounds they liked least. 

Back at school, you could explore ways of using different keys to represent sound and represent their sound maps pictorially, or on a graph as loud and soft sounds, like a sonograph.

Vocabulary: What words would they use to describe sounds? e.g. loud, soft, harsh, sweet, scraping, jaggy ……. Exploring descriptive words and feelings, this activity would lead on well to the ‘Folding Poem’ activity.

Downloads

BBC bird sounds

WWF –UK Freshwater page

WWF –UK Freshwater in Scotland page

Explore virtual pond habitat with useful sheets to download for a pond dipping activity or to explore a cross section of a pond