What Activities Can We Use to Teach Children About Noise Pollution?
Levels of noise in society are increasing and people are surrounded by noise practically everywhere they turn. Overexposure to noise can cause high stress levels, and can even damage people's hearing if it's too loud or there's too much of it. Numerous activities can aid in teaching children about noise pollution and how to limit its negative effects in their day-to-day lives.
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Playing Sound Detective
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With this activity, children will learn the difference between sounds and noise. Take the children for a walk around the school or take them outside. Let them bring their notebooks along and ask them to write down every sound they hear. The children should describe the sounds as well, writing down where the sound came from, the level of loudness and how it made them feel. After you get back to school, discuss with the children, which sounds were in their opinion necessary and which were not.
What Is Noise Pollution?
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At the beginning of the lesson, discuss the meaning of and concerns about noise pollution. You can do this by making a table of common sounds and their respective decibel levels. Try to include sounds that the children can relate to. Begin with writing "Silence" in the table and explain silence has the decibel level 0. Add more things like car noises, the sound of conversation, washing machine and airplanes, and match them all with their decibel levels. Explain to the children how all these sounds together create noise pollution.
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Safe Hearing
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Children should realize that heavy noise pollution can severally damage a person's hearing. First you should explain to the kids how hearing works and how it deteriorates with age and frequent exposure to noise. Then listen to a sounds CD with the children and discuss the sounds they hear. Talk about how loud each sound is and if it is necessary for it to be that way. Ask the children to relate the sounds from the CD to their lives and discuss how exposure to these noises can be avoided. Use this opportunity to explain to the children that they should be careful to avoid turning the volume too high on their iPods.
Traveling Sounds
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Take the children outside and explain to them that you will bang on the drum while they walk away. Instruct them to stop when they can't hear the drum anymore. Measure the distances between you and the children. When you get back to the classroom, explain to the children why some of them heard the drumming for a longer time than others. Explain to the children that sound waves are created by vibrations of an object and are interpreted by the human brain after they cause vibrations of the eardrum. Teach them about how the traveling of sound can lead to noise pollution.
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References
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