Build a Musical Band
Our second project of the second semester was to create instruments based on our new knowledge of sound waves. Our group decided to construct a metal xylophone, a wooden ukulele, a bamboo pan flute, and a PVC pipe flute-like woodwind instrument. It was difficult to make all four of the instruments create an entire scale of notes, but once we did, they made a very nice musical sound. We also wrote lyrics for a song about quadratic functions that would accompany the instruments to the tune of "Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina and The Waves. The attached document sums up the the physics concepts that were used while creating our band.
Reflection
As with most group projects, there were highlights throughout that were accompanied by lowlights.
One of the peaks of this project was my group's ability to multitask. While one person was working on constructing an instrument, another was either writing our song or researching the physics behind the instrument for our final description. If we had not worked together as efficiently as we had, if would have been much more difficult to finish the project by the deadline. I also learned about how important it is to adjust to new situations if things don't work out as perfectly as you had wanted. When our pan flute was not loud enough to make distinguishable notes, we had to adjust the octave it was played in. This fixed our problem and I learned that modifications are necessary in any project in which you are trying something you are new at.
Unfortunately, we did have some trouble thinking through our actions before we acted. For example, instead of completely measuring the holes we were going to drill before we drilled them, we measured only some of them and hoped for the rest to create musical notes. This ended up not working, and we had to start over on the flute, which lost us a lot of time. Having to reconstruct the flute taught me that having complete plans before constructing is important to have success.
As with most group projects, there were highlights throughout that were accompanied by lowlights.
One of the peaks of this project was my group's ability to multitask. While one person was working on constructing an instrument, another was either writing our song or researching the physics behind the instrument for our final description. If we had not worked together as efficiently as we had, if would have been much more difficult to finish the project by the deadline. I also learned about how important it is to adjust to new situations if things don't work out as perfectly as you had wanted. When our pan flute was not loud enough to make distinguishable notes, we had to adjust the octave it was played in. This fixed our problem and I learned that modifications are necessary in any project in which you are trying something you are new at.
Unfortunately, we did have some trouble thinking through our actions before we acted. For example, instead of completely measuring the holes we were going to drill before we drilled them, we measured only some of them and hoped for the rest to create musical notes. This ended up not working, and we had to start over on the flute, which lost us a lot of time. Having to reconstruct the flute taught me that having complete plans before constructing is important to have success.