DECIBEL — The unit used to measure the power of a sound

Investigate loud sounds in your school. Your own hands can be your loudness meter! Make a soft shooshing sound by gently rubbing your palms together. Snap your fingers. Clap your hands. These are your reference sounds. Go to different parts of the school and make these three sounds. If you can hear the shooshing, that place is quiet. If you can’t hear the shooshing but can hear the fingersnaps, that place is moderately loud. If you can’t hear fingersnaps but can hear clapping, the place is loud. If you can’t hear clapping, the place is DANGEROUSLY loud. You need ear protection!
 
Is there a place with zero decibels? Find a few quiet spots in your city and see how quiet they really are. Do you get used to background noises like computers, TV, traffic hums or house creaks? What other noises are you tuning out?

Investigate how sounds fade with distance. Set a radio to a low volume then walk away until you can’t hear it anymore. Measure the distance or count the steps. Repeat the test with increasing volumes. What do you notice? Does “twice as loud” mean you walk twice as far away?

Virginia Standards of Learning Connection – Science
Third Grade – 3.1
Fourth Grade – 4.1
Fifth Grade – 5.2

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