Family Field Trip National Park Service U. S. Department of the Interior Good Vibrations Rocky Mountain National Park Colorado

Plan and Prepare: Welcome! This family field trip guide provides an opportunity for parents and their students to Always follow the explore Rocky Mountain National Park and connect learning to Colorado State Educational Standards. guidance of the CDC, While each activity is listed as a specific grade level, the whole family can participate. Parents are local and state encouraged to read the additional resources and bring the materials listed so that they can support authorities when their students’ learning. During busy times, arriving early avoids crowds. planning your activities. Check current road and Supported Grade Level Standard: First Grade, Standard 1. Physical Science: weather conditions in “Sound can make matter vibrate and vibrating matter can make sound.” the park and be prepared for the Objective: The student will be able to describe sound as vibrations that travel in waves. weather. Download a Duration: 30 – 60 minutes map of the park here. Location: Sprague Lake or your favorite nature place Materials: 2 – 3 rubber bands, of different sizes if possible. (Additional activities below.)

Engage: Ask your student(s) what sounds they have heard when they were outside. Have your Respect Wildlife: student gently place their hand on their throat and say their name first quietly and then in a normal Watch wildlife from a voice. What do they notice? Tell them that you are going on an outdoors adventure to explore how distance. Never feed sound moves from the object that makes the sound to your ears. animals. Explore: Get outside! Take a nature walk and have your student point in the direction of any sound that they hear. What is making the sound? Do you see the sound traveling to your ears? Continue to Dispose of Waste walk and listen for sounds and ask questions like “Is it a loud sound or a soft sound?” Find a nice spot Properly: to stop and take out the rubber bands. The adult should take one of the rubber bands and stretch it between fingers on opposite hands so that the rubber band is taut. Have the student strum the Use restrooms or step rubber band. What did you hear? What did you see? Try the same activity with rubber bands of away from the trail and different sizes. Did you notice anything different? Ask the student to gently place their hand on an bury waste at least 6 adult’s throat. Have the adult hum a such as “Happy Birthday.” What do you see? What do you inches deep. Carry out feel? What do you hear? all trash including toilet paper. Explain: What did you hear on your walk? What made that sound? Demonstrate again strumming the rubber band, point out the vibrations of the rubber band and listen for the sound. The vibrating rubber bands and the vibrating cords in our throat made the sound. The other sounds we heard also Leave What You came from vibrations. (Take your rubber bands home with you.) Find: This includes rocks, Elaborate: Find a body of water such as a stream, pond or large puddle. (If there is no water available pinecones, and flowers. this activity can be done at home using a sink or bathtub.) Have the student toss a small stone into the water. What did you see? If necessary help the student see the ripples radiating from where the stone entered the water. Sound is made by vibrations that travel in waves. The waves are like the Be Considerate of ripples we saw in the water. We cannot see sound waves but we hear the sound when the vibrations Other Visitors: enter our ears. Share the trail and use Evaluate: On the way back home ask the student what they did on your field trip. What did they quiet voices. discover about sound? If a bird is chirping in a tree how do we hear its song? (Remember good vibrations!!)

Additional Resources: Can you identify these sounds? Listen together and count the sounds you identify. https://www.nps.gov/romo/learn/photosmultimedia/soundlibrary.htm Family Field Trip National Park Service U. S. Department of the Interior Good Vibrations Rocky Mountain National Park Colorado

See Sound?

Can you see sound? Well, we can’t see the sound waves as they move through the air. Remember the waves you see when you drop a rock into water? They very similar! But we can see the vibrations that create sound transmitted between surfaces with a little help. Gather your supplies in advance; you can do this activity at home or on the trail! You Need: • Big Bowl • Plastic Wrap • Dry dirt or black pepper • Metal Pan • Metal Spoon

To Do: Put the plastic wrap tightly over the bowl. (One sheet, as tight as you can get it. You can use a rubber band to secure the plastic wrap if needed.) Put about 1/2 teaspoon of pepper on the plastic.

Then hold the metal pan close to the bowl and have your child hit it with the spoon. The harder they hit it the better. The pepper will Activity supplies NPS photo dance! What is happening? The pan vibrates, creating a sound wave. This wave is transmitted through the ai r molecules and causes the plastic wrap to start vibrating as well, making the pepper dance!

You are seeing the result of the sound waves in the pepper. Are any patterns formed? Try hitting the pan harder and then more gently. How does the behavior of the pepper change?

Paper Cup Phone

A paper cup phone requires two paper cups, a length of an inelastic string, thread, or fishing line, two paper clips and a pencil. To create a paper cup phone, poke a hole in the bottom of each of the cups with the pencil and threa d eac h en d of the strin g throug h eac h hole . Tie eac h en d of the strin g to a pape r cli p to prevent the string from detachin g fro m the cups . Pul l the strin g tau t and hav e one perso n spea k int o one of the cups whil e you put th e othe r cup to you r ear and listen . Th e cup s can be used to communicat e over distance s of u p to 100 feet.

Sounds of Nature

Listen to these sounds of nature and see if you can tell what is making them. https://www.nps.gov/romo/learn/photosmultimedia/soundlibrary.htm