Science 2 - Energy Videos

Duration: 23:03

Synopsis: Though there are some pieces of this video that would easily be considered a little complex for a grade two science class, as a whole, the many small sketches that make up a video like this one will certainly help students to better understand some of the key pieces of sound.

Duration: 8:41

Synopsis: This is a collection of twenty different common animals and the sound that each of them make. There are many ways in which this could be turned into a game in your class; what better way to meet the outcome regarding the identification of sound sources? There are some other videos similar to this one that can be found, but the timer on this one really helps you to run this as a game in your class (provided the ticking sound of the stopwatch doesn't bother any of your students).

Duration: 8:30

Synopsis: Made by the same company as the video above, this video also goes through the sound of many different sounds that can be found around a house. Once again, feel free to look at a way that this could be turned into a game in your class. 

Duration: 10:47

Synopsis: This video has two rounds of of quiz-style game where you are shown the appearance of a musical instrument as you listen to it. Then, after each round, you are quizzed on whether you recognize the appearance of an instrument or recognize the sound of an instrument. Each of the rounds has six specific instruments.

Duration: 3:34

Synopsis: Though the musical term "timbre" is not found in the curriculum anywhere, this is a great video for comparing the sound (timbre) of various instruments, as most of these instruments (with the exception of percussion and a few others) play the same set of notes (which are called an arpeggio) in the same key. This similarity really allows a student to compare the difference in timbre between all of these instruments. From a scientific method perspective, what is important in making these comparisons would be that the volume, pitch, and duration are very similar between almost all examples. If your students enjoy this video, consistency of the same notes on different instruments can also be found in this video.

Duration: 4:37

Synopsis: This video leads the students through the activity of creating a string phone to ultimately lead the students to understanding that sound can travel through both air and solids.

Duration: 6:21

Synopsis: This video's narrator has a very "unique" voice; isn't that perfect for a video about sound? Though this video does have some drawbacks (eg. measurement of the speed of sound in feet per second), there are a number of things that have this video stand out: first, he explicitly talks about sounds travelling through gases, liquids, and solids; second, in addition to loudness and pitch (which are in the curriculum), he adds an explanation of what timbre is, and why echoes occur. 

Duration: 7:07

Synopsis: Though I normally don't suggest starting a video anywhere other than the beginning, this video has a bit of a disclaimer in changes to their YouTube account; here is where you likely want to start this video. This video doesn't look at the science of sound as much as it really brings into conversation the idea of what is sound versus noise pollution? With a learning outcome involving volume, this video addresses that much of the noise pollution is due to its loud magnitude. Another nice link to learning outcomes in the Science 2 Matter Unit is that this video discusses that sounds (just like materials and fabrics) can be natural or synthetic.

Duration: 3:57

Synopsis: While this is similar to many of the others, two key pieces come frm this video: 

1. The hostess contrasts what we classify as "noise," "notes," and "music."

2. She really has some great examples where she continues to use the word "vibration." This video will certainly familiarize students with this key word.

Duration: 3:53

Synopsis: Between these two videos with the exact same title, I would argue that this one explains sound with a slightly more scientific explanation. This video involves the movement of air particles (which you could explain could be liquids or gases as well) and how their movement registers as sound in our ear. Along the line of the ear, this video also gives (and illustrates, though somewhat inaccurately,) the idea that our ear can hear from roughly 20 Hz to 20 000 Hz.

Duration: 5:29

Synopsis: With a title that seems very familiar, this video still does have a few traits that set it apart. It could be argued that this video has the best visualization of pitch between all of the videos. This video also has a number of quick activities that are led by the video, such as placing your hands on the front of your neck to feel sound vibrations. This video closes with a number of quiz-style questions that you can then use with your class.

Duration: 3:27

Synopsis: This video does have some similarities to others on this list, but one of the unique pieces that it has is the clear division of natural light from artificial lighting. The video even rationalizes why we refer to light created by humans as artificial light.

Duration: 23:00

Synopsis: Much like the other video with Bill Nye mentioned for this unit, this one does have some content that is above the grade two curriculum, but what is nice is that much of the key pieces within the grade two curriculum involving light are repeated again and again throughout the video.

Duration: 4:16

Synopsis: Though this video starts out with a brief discussion behind the parts of the eye that are key in our eye seeing light, this video then spends a good amount of time discussing colourblindness, and the various types of colourblindness. It then relates colourblindness to the cones that dogs have, and explains why dogs are more colourblind than most humans. This can be especially interesting to students who are colourblind. If you are wanting to have students take a look at colourblindness, you can find Ishihara tests as a video or as a website. 

Duration: 3:35

Synopsis: In the short length of this video, almost all of the components of this unit are discussed and explained. From differentiating opacity to reflection and refraction, this video really does a great job of covering all the key pieces of light in the Science 2 curriculum. It can serve as a great video to open the light section of the unit, or use it as means to review.

Duration: 2:30

Synopsis: This video not only discusses all of the reasons that we need our sun, but also looks at comparisons of our sun to other stars, and the estimated span of time that our sun will give off light. Overall this video is good for grade two students, but there is one inaccuracy: this video makes mention of our sun being a "dwarf star"; this is not correct. As can be seen on an H-R diagram like this one, our star is classified as a mainstream star. That one little point aside, this video certainly does a great job of succinctly teaching about our sun.

Duration: 5:59

Synopsis: One of the great ways to teach the outcome involving the dispersion of light is through the use of a prism. While you will find a prism simulator over in the websites for this unit, this video can serve as a good way for students to understand what a prism is, and why a prism causes the dispersion of light.

Duration: 6:19

Synopsis: This video covers many of the topics throughout this unit, and could almost be subdivided to introduce various parts of this unit, as there are clear divisions between the various sections in this video. The one piece to note in this video is that when talking about refraction, the narrator brings in the example of the prism. While a prism is an example of refraction, it is the dispersion that takes place as a result of a prism that results in a spectrum being created; the curriculum makes special note of the word "dispersion."