Birdsong and a better beak
Birds use song to talk to each other. We can describe a birdsong without words by listening for its parts. Pitch tells how high or low the notes are. Tempo tells how fast or slow the song goes. A melody is a group of notes at different pitches, and rhythm is the pattern of short and long notes. We can draw a song as a line that goes up for high notes and down for low notes. Engineers also improve their ideas with design steps: ask, imagine, plan, build, test and improve. To improve a beak model, we test it, look at the results, change one part, and test again. We keep what works.
| Song A | Song B | |
|---|---|---|
| Pitch | high | low |
| Tempo | fast | slow |
Listen and design. With a grown-up, sit quietly outside or by a window for three minutes and listen for a bird. Draw its song as a line that goes up for high notes and down for low ones, with short marks for short notes. Describe it: high or low, fast or slow. Then design a better beak model from card, a spoon, tape or a clothespin, with a grown-up. Test it on dry beans in 20 seconds, change one thing and test again. Draw both results in a bar chart. Do not use sharp tools.