This activity serves as a great introduction to the nature of a sound wave. Students are presented a short reading regarding sound waves. The reading focuses on the pressure oscillations of a sound wave and provides two diagrams and two plots of pressure as a function of time for two different sound sources. Students must interpret the plots in light of the terminology presented in the reading. Students learn about compressions, rarefactions, wavelength, frequency, period, and pressure.

This activity describes the relationship between the intensity of a sound at a given distance from the source and the associated deciBel level. Information is presented in the form of two tables and a graph. Questions target a student's ability to recognize the qualitative and quantitative relationship between variables, to use the relationship to compare various sounds with different intensities or deciBel ratings or at different distances from the same source, and to extrapolate from a table or a graph to predict deciBel ratings or intensities for a given set of conditions.

This activity describes the relationship between sound intensity and the deciBel level, between the perceived loudness of a sound and its frequency and deciBel level, and the sone scale of loudness. Information is presented in the form of a table, a graph with several equal loudness curves and a figure representing the sone scale. Questions target a student's ability to identify and use the relationship between intensity and the deciBel rating, to read values from and to interpret a complex graph, to use data from two or more data presentations in order to compare two sounds, and to combine information from two or more data presentations in order to draw valid conclusions.

This activity uses two tables to compare and contrast the frequency, wavelength and speeds of the various harmonics produced by open- and closed-end resonance columns. The frequency composition of a clarinet and a flute are compared to one another. Questions target a student's ability to select information from a complex data table or a graph, to identify the relationship among the variables wavelength, frequency, speed and harmonic number, to use such relationships to make comparisons of the sounds produced by two different air columns, and to combine information in a table with information in a graph in order to identify appropriate conclusions.