Unit 5 — Communicating with Light and Sound
Description
Students continue to develop their understanding of light and sound, then apply this knowledge to engineering design to solve a practical problem: designing a device that uses light or sound to communicate over a distance. Students engage in the full engineering design process, including defining the problem, researching existing solutions, designing prototypes, testing, and evaluating their designs based on criteria and constraints. Examples of communication devices students might design include light signal systems, paper cup and string telephones, or drum beat patterns. The unit emphasizes that people depend on various technologies for communication and that understanding science enables us to solve real-world problems.
Essential Questions
- How can light or sound be used to communicate over a distance?
- How would we communicate over a distance without the use of any of the devices that people currently use?
Learning Objectives
- Use tools and materials to design and build a device that uses light or sound to solve the problem of communicating over a distance
- Ask questions, make observations, and gather information about a situation people want to change to define a simple problem that can be solved through the development of a new or improved object or tool
- Develop a simple sketch, drawing, or physical model to illustrate how the shape of an object helps it function as needed to solve a given problem
- Describe how the shape and stability of structures are related to their function
Supplemental Resources
- Paper cups and string for designing and building cup telephones
- Flashlights and materials for light signal investigations
- Drums, mallets, and percussion instruments for sound communication exploration
- Chart paper and markers for designing and labeling communication device components
Physical Sciences
Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science
Students participate in shared research and writing projects across all units. In Unit 1, students create books describing patterns of change in the sky and write journal entries relating daylight to seasons, aligned to W.1.7 and W.1.8. In Unit 2, students read informational texts to identify main topics, retell key details, and ask and answer questions about organism traits and parent-offspring behaviors, aligned to RI.CR.1.1, RI.CI.1.2, and W.RW.1.7. In Unit 3, students conduct shared research and produce writing about how humans mimic organisms to solve problems, aligned to W.RW.1.7. In Unit 4, students read informational texts about light and sound, write informative texts naming facts about topics, and participate in collaborative conversations, aligned to W.IW.1.2, W.RW.1.7, W.SE.1.6, and SL.PE.1.1. In Unit 5, students gather information from texts and media about communication devices, write how-to books describing their engineering design solutions, and add drawings to clarify ideas, aligned to W.RW.1.7, W.SE.1.6, and SL.PE.1.1.
Students apply mathematics across multiple units. In Unit 1, students use addition and subtraction within 20 to solve word problems involving amounts of daylight, organize and interpret data in up to three categories, and reason abstractly and quantitatively, aligned to 1.OA.A.1, 1.MD.C.4, MP.2, MP.4, and MP.5. In Unit 2, students use measurement tools to order and compare leaves by length, organize data into simple graphs, and apply place-value strategies, aligned to 1.MD.A.1, 1.NBT.B.3, 1.NBT.C.1, 1.NBT.C.2, and 1.NBT.C.3. In Unit 3, there are no explicit mathematics connections identified. In Unit 5, students measure lengths of string using nonstandard and standard units, compare lengths indirectly, and organize drumbeat data into graphs, aligned to 1.MD.A.1, 1.MD.A.2, MP.2, MP.4, and MP.5.
Formative Assessments
- Brainstorm ways that people communicate over a distance
- Ask questions based on observations to find more information about the natural and/or designed world
- Define a simple problem that can be solved through engineering design
- Develop sketches, drawings, or physical models of communication devices
Summative Assessment
Design a device that uses light and sound as a new form of communication
Benchmark Assessment
Design an investigation to demonstrate that objects can only be seen when illuminated
Alternative Assessment
Students may demonstrate understanding through hands-on construction of a simple communication device with teacher guidance and support, using pre-selected materials and simplified design steps. Visual demonstrations, picture cards showing communication examples, and verbal explanations of how their device works may be used in place of written sketches or detailed descriptions.
IEP (Individualized Education Program)
During the engineering design process, provide students with visual supports such as labeled picture cards of light and sound communication tools to support brainstorming and vocabulary development. Allow students to express their design ideas through drawing, dictation, or verbal explanation rather than written description alone, and offer a simple graphic organizer with picture prompts to guide them through the define-design-test sequence. Break the design challenge into smaller, clearly sequenced steps with frequent check-ins, and provide physical models or examples of communication devices to help students understand what a functional prototype might look like before they begin building.
Section 504
Provide preferential seating during whole-group instruction and demonstrations related to light and sound concepts to minimize distraction and support focus. Offer extended time during the design, building, and reflection phases of the engineering challenge, and give directions for each phase of the process one step at a time, both orally and in print with visual cues.
ELL / MLL
Build background knowledge by using real objects, video clips, and photographs that show how light and sound are used to communicate over a distance, connecting to communication tools students may recognize from their home cultures. Introduce and repeatedly reinforce key unit vocabulary — such as signal, distance, vibration, and design — using picture-word cards and classroom labels, and allow students to discuss their design ideas with a partner in their home language before sharing with the group. Simplify oral directions for each phase of the engineering process and check for understanding by asking students to point to or demonstrate what they plan to do next.
At Risk (RTI)
Connect the engineering challenge to familiar, everyday experiences with communication — such as calling out to someone across a room or seeing a flashing light — to help students access the unit's core ideas from a place of prior knowledge. Offer a choice of entry points into the design process, such as starting with a pre-structured brainstorm sheet with picture options, and allow students to build and test simple, low-complexity versions of a communication device before adding additional features. Provide consistent, positive feedback at each stage of the process to build confidence and reinforce that making changes based on testing is a normal and valued part of engineering.
Gifted & Talented
Encourage students to investigate how their communication device design could be improved by changing one variable at a time — such as the length of a string or the size of a sound chamber — and to document and explain the effect of that change. Challenge students to consider the real-world constraints engineers face, such as cost, materials availability, or the needs of different users, and to revise their design accordingly. Students might also explore how multiple signals could be combined — for example, pairing a light pattern with a sound pattern — to create a more complex communication system, connecting science and engineering concepts at a deeper level.