Activity for the Week: Listening to Nature Sounds

This week, take students outside to hear what nature sounds like. Depending on your students, it may be a little hard at first to settle down long enough to listen well. But once they do, they’ll be surprised by just how much they hear. 

Supplies

• Plain white paper
• Pencils
• A notebook or book to bear down on

Getting Started 

Inform the students that the class is going outside to listen to nature’s sounds. Let them know they must stay very quiet in order to hear them. Often nature’s sounds are lost in the louder and distracting noise around us. 

Head Outside 

• Take the class outside and find a comfortable place to sit. Instruct the students create a map on their paper to mark the area, showing trees,  nearby roads, the school building, etc.
• Have them sit quietly and close their eyes. Instruct them to listen for any sounds they can hear. 
• Have the students draw a symbol representing what they heard in the place where they heard it.
• Have the students compare maps. Did they hear all of the same sounds? Were any of them different?
• Ask the class: Did all of the sounds come from nature? Which sounds, if any, were man-made? 

Image by davidpwhelen