Subject: Science, Tech/Eng, Music
Grade Level: 6
Standards: MA STE, Music & ELA (Common Core)
By Lee Burgess
It’s the year 2035 and you’re beginning your first day of the new semester as an in-school symphony educator. As part of your duties as a full-time Springfield Symphony member, you are assigned to a local middle school to begin teaching and mentoring beginning musicians.
On your first day, you realize a major problem: Your students are playing consistently with no sense of intonation (being in-tune). You will get together with 2 of your fellow symphony teaching artists (classmates) and develop 1 to 3 reproducible remedies for intonation. By the end of this project, you will be able to perform your first five notes in tune, perform as a trio a simple tune, and present the remedy you developed for superior intonation.
STE, ELA & Music Standards
6.MS-PS4-1. Use diagrams of a simple wave to explain that (a) a wave has a repeating pattern with a specific amplitude, frequency, and wavelength, and (b) the amplitude of a wave is related to the energy of the wave.
3.3-5-ETS1-2. Generate several possible solutions to a given design problem. Compare each solution based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the design problem.*
WCA-6-8.9 Draw evidence from informational texts (and scientific tools) to support analysis, interpretation, reflection, and research
Music 6th Grade: Performing-5. Develop and refine artistic techniques and work for presentation.
