Students apply their understanding of sound mathematics and wave behavior to create either a playable instrument tuned to target frequencies or an interactive demonstration that teaches visitors how sound works. The project prepares them to communicate accurate scientific and mathematical explanations through a poster, live presentation, and public exhibition for elementary students and families. Through design, testing, peer review, and audience feedback, students use the wave equation, wave speed calculations, scientific notation, exponents, and metric conversions to make and defend real-world claims about sound.

Students will apply exponents, scientific notation, metric prefix conversions, the wave equation, and wave speed calculations to design and justify a sound-based product that produces or demonstrates specific frequencies. They will explain, with accurate mathematical and scientific evidence, how frequency, wavelength, and wave speed interact and how these ideas appear in instruments, sound demonstrations, and technologies that transmit or capture information and energy. Students will collaborate to plan, test, revise, and present their work, using peer review and audience feedback from elementary students and families to improve both the product and the clarity of their explanations. Students will create an instrument or interactive demonstration, document their design process, and communicate their learning through a poster and live exhibition.

Students will create either a tuned musical instrument that produces target frequencies or an interactive sound demonstration that teaches wave properties to elementary visitors. Along the way, they will produce design sketches, calculation logs showing scientific notation, metric conversions, and wave equation use, prototype test data, and a peer feedback/reflection record. Each team will also create a clear explanatory poster that shows how the product works, the math behind it, and how wave behavior connects to real technologies that transmit or capture information and energy. The final public products are the completed instrument or demonstration, the poster, and a live presentation/performance for the elementary school exhibition and a second exhibition for families.

Invite the elementary school audience need into the room on day one by sharing a short video or live message from younger students asking, “How do instruments make different sounds?” and “Can you show us how sound waves work?” Then run a fast sound challenge: students rotate through stations with tuning forks, rubber-band boxes, cups/string phones, and a tone-generator app to observe pitch changes, estimate frequencies, and record quick wave equation calculations using scientific notation and metric conversions. End with a design brief reveal: teams choose to build an instrument or an interactive wave demonstration for the elementary exhibition and parent showcase, then complete a short concept sketch and peer feedback round on how their product will teach frequency, wavelength, and wave speed clearly.

Host a two-part public showcase: first, an interactive sound fair at the elementary school where teams perform their instruments or run hands-on wave demonstrations, then a second evening exhibition for families and caregivers. Each team should present its product, a visual poster with wave equation calculations and metric/scientific notation conversions, and a brief explanation of the design process and how the math predicts the sound produced. Invite elementary students and parents to test, listen, ask questions, and give feedback through simple audience response forms that become part of students’ reflection. End with a short concert or live demo set featuring student-built instruments and selected demonstrations to celebrate both the science and the creativity.