We are learning to:

• tune into the sounds around us

I will know I'm successful if:

• I can listen carefully to the sounds around me

• I can identify and map some of the sounds I hear

A sound map is a drawing of the sounds you hear within a landscape. You may hear:

• bird calls and other animal sounds

• environmental sounds like wind in the treetops

• water flowing

• traffic and other human activities

Draw a sound map while listening, and make marks to represent sounds. The marks can symbolise the quality of the sound, and can represent what is making the sound. All you need is a pencil and paper. If you have one you can use a compass to mark north on your map.

1. Sit quietly, close your eyes for a few moments and cup your hands around your ears, like possum ears, to help you hear.

2. Draw an X in the middle of your page to mark where you are sitting. As you listen, draw sounds that you hear close by, nearer to the X and the ones further away, draw further away from the X. Think about where the sound is coming from, to your right or left, in front, behind or above you? What is making the sound?

3. Record the time, date and place you are sitting. Many children can sit quietly for between 5-10 minutes, but you may want to sit and listen longer.

As you repeat this activity you may find that you can listen more intently and notice more sounds. This can help us to begin to understand the place and our landscape more fully.

• What is making the noise?

• Are the birds making alarm calls or ‘I am here’ calls?

• Are they calling hello to their partner or chicks, or are they scared of a predator?

• When do the frogs call?

• Are they active at particular times of day or night?

There is seasonal variation in animal calls and activity too. You can learn to identify calls by using one of the sound libraries or listening to podcasts describing animal calls. Scientists are learning about animal behaviour and where animals live by listening to soundscapes.

While you listen you can also record a soundsacpe (make a sound recording). Most mobile phones come with an app for recording sound, such as Voice Recorder (Android/Samsung) or Voice Memos (iOS).

There are many things you can do with a soundscape. You could try:

• listen to a soundscape for relaxation

• use your soundscape for the background soundtrack for a video

• play a 'secret sound' games with friends (get your friends to guess the sounds you recorded)

• upload animal sounds to a range of sites, e.g. FrogID, to identify a frog species, or identify bird species for the Birdlife BirdData survey

Tips for sound recordings:

• set up and stay still in a quiet space

• avoid windy days

• don't move once you've started recording

• stand or sit behind something to protect your device's microphone from the wind

• tape some light foam (e.g. spare foam from headphones) over your device's microphone to absorb unwanted background noise, e.g. wind