50 The Five Senses: Supplemental Guide 2A | I Use My Ears to Hear
Presenting the Read-Aloud 10 minutes
I Use My Ears to Hear
Show image 3A-1: Different kinds of ears
Your ears are always hearing sounds that come from all around you.
Even if you cover your ears, you will still be able to hear sound. Try it![Have students put their hands over their ears.]
Now close your eyes so you can’t see anything.[Have students close their eyes.]
It’s easy to close your eyes so you can’t see anything. But it is not
easy to turn your ears off because they hear sound all the time. Show image 3A-2: Sound wave diagram
Sound travels through the air in sound waves.^ Like waves in the
ocean, sound waves go up and down as they move.[Point to the sounds waves and accentuate the up and down motion.]
And just like ocean waves, sound waves make noise as they move.[Show students a picture of ocean waves.]
But unlike ocean waves, sound waves are invisible; you can’t see
them. Sound waves are all around you. Can you make a wavy motion
with your arms?[Invite students to make a wavy motions with their arms with you.]
This is how sound waves move all around us, even though we can’t
see them. Remember that sound waves are invisible. Show image 3A-3: Echo Point
It’s easy for sound waves to go through objects like classroom walls
and your hand.[Point to or touch a wall and your hand.]
But sound waves do not go through everything; sometimes a sound
wave will bounce off an object like the sides of these cliffs to make an
echo.[Point from one cliff to another to show how an echo travels.]