Bottle Band

Grade Level: 1
Suggested Order: Week 5
Suggested Time: 1 hour
Lesson Type: Final Project (Medical Sciences and Wellness)
Overview
Students will use bottles and bottle caps of various shapes and sizes to make musical instruments. As a class, they will put together a song and perform it at the end of the week.
Vocabulary
Objectives
Required Project Materials
Multimedia Resources
Optional Multimedia Resources
Before the Lesson/ Background Information
The Lesson
Part 1: Case Study: Aluminum
  1. Let the students know that they will be looking at aluminum as an example of how materials are made, and how they gain the properties that make them useful.
  2. Watch “How It’s Made: Aluminum Foil.” The language is a little complex, so recap for the students and answer any questions.
  3. Pass out samples of aluminum foil. Allow students to feel its texture. While it’s still flat and taut, have the students flap it in the air to hear the sound it makes. They can also slap it for a certain sound. What happens when a flat piece of foil is spread over a bowl? If they tap it carefully, what sound does it make? What about when they tap it with a popsicle stick?
  4. Next, they should wrinkle the foil, fold it, etc. Let them experiment with what noise the foil makes after they’ve altered it in various ways.
  5. Experiment with whistles. Blow gently into the rim of a bottle to produce a sound. Bottlecaps also make great whistles.
Part 2: Bottle Band
  1. Each student will make her or his own instrument.
  2. Make sure the students have time to practice together as a band. Can they come up with songs together, each person having a distinct part? This is a great outdoor activity!