Patrick Murphy Kat Dortch

 The students will have a concise understanding of the subject of sound and how it is reflected.  The students will acquire skills to create activities in order to enhance their understanding and comprehension of the subject.

 This lab relates to methods that REAL scientists use.  By sending wavelengths down into the Earth’s crust, scientists are able to classify and determine the hardness of rocks.  These attributes can be established by the loudness of the sound reflected off the rocks deep in the Earth’s crust.  Scientists know the consistency and hardness of the rock, where petroleum is found, and thus can use this method to find petroleum, hence the title of this very lab.

 Defined as “a thick, flammable, yellow-to- black mixture of gaseous liquid that occurs beneath the earth’s surface and can be separated into fractions including natural gas and gasoline.

 Frequency: number of oscillations per unit of time.  Wavelengths: distance between two successive points of a wave  How sound is reflected: Reflection of sound depends on the object reflecting it. Hard substances enhance sound while other surfaces absorb or modify the sound wave.

 The first step is to use pieces of rope to demonstrate wavelength and frequency to students. The students have to think about how sound travels  Next, give the supplies for the activity to the students and tell them that they have to come up with a way to reflect the sound of a timer.  After some time has passed, see what the students have come up with and show them an alternative way to reflect the sound by setting up paper tubes perpendicular to each other and having an object at the end of the tubes to reflect the sound.  After that, give the students the different objects that are going to be used to reflect the sound and ask them to see which object reflects the sound the best. This would include an angled book, an empty tub, a tub filled with water, and a sponge.  Discuss with the class the differences that were observed.

 Interactive Site Interactive Site

 Make sure the students are evenly spread around the classroom so that when students listen to the sounds through the tubes and might be close to the ground, other students are not running them over.  Have the tub of water filled already so that the chance of a spill is lowered.

 Compare the variations of sound heard using the different objects as reflectors. Why do think the sound changed?  How do you think this activity is relevant for locating petroleum?  How do you think the sound of the timer reflects off objects?

 Overall, this activity is very useful because not only does it teach scientific concepts like wavelength, frequency, and how sound travels and is reflected; it also has a real world application with makes it more interesting to students. This activity is also great for teachers because it is easy to set up and very easy to clean up. There is also a lot of education material in this lab that gets students to think about sound and really understand how it travels. This lab would be useful for a Physics, Earth Science, Geology, and Biology laboratory, and the amount of inquiry in the lab really gets students to think for themselves.

 "Petroleum - Definition of Petroleum by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia." Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary. Web. 29 Apr  "Reflection of Sound." NDT Resource Center. Iowa State University. Web. 29 Apr  The Ticker Laboratory, Original Lab “Locating Petroleum”.