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The Blue Dragon
Programme 13: Sounds Right
This is the final programme in the current series of
The Blue Dragon and not only does it aim to develop children's
understanding of sound but it also offers the opportunity to
develop the idea of a 'cliffhanger' ending – will Cinders
find her mother or not and what do children think will happen next
– which is an excellent link to literacy and writing
alternative endings to a story.
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In the final programme in this series the characters
are to be found at the edge of a wood where they can hear a
sound.
The characters talk about their favourite sounds and about
different ears, as well as how sounds can give us clues as to what
is happening.
They follow the sound of water and come across a magical waterfall.
They then go behind the waterfall. The friends find a Unicorn and
follow the Unicorn in the hope that it will lead them to the blue
dragon's mother.
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The programme
explores:
- different kinds of sounds;
- different materials that make different sounds;
- sounds that are low, high, quiet and loud;
- different animals have different ears.
There are many curriculum
links that can be made for example:
- Music – making their own music, for example, a
rap song.
- English – telling a story and creating sound
effects to go with it.
- Design and technology – designing and making
their own musical instruments or sound-makers.
- Geography – finding out about musical
instruments used in different countries around the world.
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People hear when vibrations travel through the air
and reach their ear. Most animals hear this way, but some animals
hear differently. Different animals have different ears –
foxes have large ears to hear very quiet sounds whilst crickets,
for example, have ears on their legs and the mosquito uses its
antennae.
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Provide children with a range of different materials
and sound-makers so that they can explore making sounds belonging
to different animals. Give pairs of children a card with an animal
name or animal and action, for example horse galloping, and ask
them to make the sound effects.
Some TV programmes introduce characters in a scene
with sound effects, especially dangerous characters. Ask children
to create sound effects for the characters in the story, so what
would be the sound that tells the audience that Cinders is just
about to appear, and what would the sound effect be like if it was
the wolf?
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