What Is This Unit About?

In Light and Sound, students work as light and sound engineers to design and create a scene
for a puppet show. Students work to define the design problems they are asked to solve. They figure out cause-and-effect patterns related to light, shadows, and sound by doing hands-on investigations and reading science books. They use evidence from their own investigations and from books to support their ideas. Along the way, they build a foundational understanding of important science concepts about light and sound that they will learn throughout elementary school.

What Science Vocabulary Words Do Students Use?

These are the most important science words that students use throughout the unit. These words are introduced one at a time throughout the unit and not all at once. Getting familiar with these definitions, which are sometimes different from how people use these words in everyday life, may be useful as you support your student’s at-home learning. Your student will have a Glossary that includes these words.

• block: to stop something from passing through
  bloquear: no permitir que algo pase

• design: to try to make something new that people want or need
  diseñar: intentar crear algo nuevo que las personas quieren o necesitan

• engineer: a person who makes something to solve a problem
  ingeniero/a: una persona que crea algo para solucionar un problema

• material: what something is made of
  material: lo que constituye algo

• observe: to use any of the five senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch) to learn more about something
  observar: usar cualquiera de los cinco sentidos (vista, oído, olfato, gusto, tacto) para aprender más sobre algo

• source: the place where something comes from
  fuente: el lugar desde donde viene algo

• surface: the outside part of something
  superficie: la parte exterior de algo

• vibrate: to move back and forth quickly
  vibrar: mover hacia adelante y hacia atrás rápidamente

What Do Students Read?

These books give students a chance to learn about the science concepts in Light and Sound through stories, illustrations and photos, and real-world examples. The books also help students get more evidence to answer the questions in the unit. These books can be enjoyed together, and you can read them multiple times.

*Click for directions to reading the books.

Light and Sound

Questions for At-Home Discussion

Chapter 1

● What do you think makes something look bright or dark?

● I hear you are going to help a puppet theater company. What do you think you will help them with?

Chapter 2

● What have you learned so far about light? What do you still want to know?

● What are some different light sources we can find around our home?

● What do you think is the darkest place in our home? Do you think we could still see anything there when it’s as dark as possible? Why?

Chapter 3

● How could we make a shadow in our home? How do you think we could make shadows that look different from each other?

● Can you tell me about one way you have investigated light in class?

Chapter 4

● Let’s pick a sound we hear in or near our home. What do you think causes that sound?

● Can you tell me about what you have designed to help the puppet theater company?

Amplify Family Resources website: amplify.com/amplify-science-family-resources-es/