Achievement Task

Your local school board has read the literature in regards to the effects of chronic exposure to low-level noise and wishes to use noise reduction technologies to address potential problems in your school. The school board would like a report developed that identifies areas within the school where low-level noise exposure could be a problem and then to suggest a strategy to decrease or remove the noise. The board suggests you might start your investigation in the following areas… 

1. the office

2. CAL labs

3. gymnasium or auditorium

4. cafeteria

5. ventilation systems in a science lab

Do not limit yourself to sources of low level noise. You may want to suggest areas where a noise barrier should be constructed (ie. outside a music room or shop class). Your mandate is to write a report that addresses any noise concerns within the school.

Part A: Research

1. Provide a diagram that illustrates how a vibrating object creates sound waves.

2. Explain what occurs when sound waves are incident on different types of materials. Can sound waves reflect or be absorbed when they hit an object.

3. Describe how knowledge of sound and wave properties can be used to explain the acoustics of building design. (ex. explain why sound resonates and echoes in a gymnasium but not in a small classroom.

4. How does the frequency of a sound wave affect your ability to hear in an adjacent room or through an open door?

5. When a tuning fork is struck areas of loud and soft sound are created around the fork. How can you explain this using constructive and destructive interference?

6. What happens when two sound waves cross each other’s paths? Draw a diagram that explains the concepts of superposition.

7. How could destructive interference be used to modify the sounds coming from devices in a room?

Part B: Testing and Inquiry

Obtain a map of your school and isolate the areas of the school in which noise may be a problem. Split up the investigative team and assign each group of students one of the areas indicated on the map. Generate a detailed description of the area including the following information… 

1. Draw a map showing the location of equipment and furniture in the area.
2. Measure the ambient sound levels (try to determine a maximum, minimum and average level).
3. Identify the source(s) of the chronic low-level noise (vibrating objects, machinery etc.).
4. Is the source of the sound a moving part of a machine or device or is some other material vibrating and creating the noise in response to the machine’s movement?

Part C: Analyze and Reflect

1. What sources of noise did you locate during your inspection?
2. What affect were these noise sources having on the people who have to work in the area you inspected or work close to the area you inspected?
3. Is there evidence that something should be done to quite the noise being created in the inspected area? Explain.

Part D: Communicate

The board would like you to communicate your findings by way of a formal proposal. Your proposal should contain the following sections.

1. Introduction: Explain to your readers, who may not be science experts, the basic physics of sound and what is meant by wave properties. Make reference to your research material. Include a description of the area you investigated.
2. Results: Present the data that you collected during your inspection of the assigned area.
3. Analysis: Explain what your data suggests to you and then offer at least two possible strategies to reduce the noise levels in the affected areas.
4. Conclusion: Explain how the noise levels are affecting people who need to work in and around the area you inspected. Suggest some benefits of addressing the problem. Suggest what might happen should the problem be ignored.