Skip to main content

How to use Music to Teach Math

What do math and music have in common? 
Numbers tell us a lot about music!


Math explains why notes sound higher than others, why instruments look the way they are, and why some sounds are more pleasing to the ear than others. Math and music are universal languages and use patterns to convey meaning!

On November 3rd, at this year’s Marion Cilker Conference at SJSU, RAFT’s Education Team’s Jeanne Lazzarini and Dianne Hurvitz co-presented “Harmonizing with STEAM Standards” on that very subject in front of enthusiastic SJSU students! Participants tackled a Design Challenge creating music collaboratively out of recycled materials and making connections with mathematics! This challenge also introduced other opportunities for cross-disciplinary STEAM lessons in literature, technology, engineering, and science!

How can you generate curiosity about music and math
  • Watch this fantastic YouTube video with your students: Landfill Harmonics
  • Make a musical instrument out of recycled materials in a design challenge!
    Then play a song, explain the different pitches and notes, and the math involved!
  • Compare different rhythms: The sound of waves crashing onto the shore; the sound of a heartbeat; the ticking of a clock; the blinking of a traffic light; the beat of a drum; and other examples of natural and manmade rhythms.
  • Investigate and compare: The pitch of matching notes in stringed instruments to that of wind instruments. Notice the longer the string (longer the tube), the lower the tone.
The participants teamed up to produce music on their instruments resulting in some remarkable harmonies with STEAM Standards! For more information on music and math connections, check out our RAFT tip sheet “Connecting Math and Music.” And check out this link for more about the 2017 Marion Cilker Conference!








Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Science fairs: Nurturing the 21st century thinker

3D Tessellation model A bespectacled 6th grader enthusiastically explains ‘efficiency of 3D space tessellations’ with myriad equations and handmade tessellation patterns to address the needs of the packaging, storing, shipping and construction industry. Another middle school student, was inspired by his little brother’s telescope and built a simple vacuum chamber using a PVC pipe with a microphone and a speaker on both ends to find out how sound travels on Mars! This 8th grader from Granada Islamic School used an oscilloscope his mother found at an auction to measure the sounds. “I poke around and find junk to build my projects. It’s fun.” Science projects today have become fun for many students as they use more hands on activities to experiment and understand concepts. These two middle school students were among 996 participants at the recent Synopsys Silicon Valley Science and Technology Championship , where RAFT was one of the special judges. Moenes Iskarous, President, S

RAFT SAN JOSE CELEBRATES PI (π) DAY – 3.14, WITH A BOATLOAD OF FREE ACTIVITIES!

Come meet RAFT ’s Math Activity Developer, Jeanne Lazzarini, at RAFT San Jose who has a treasure chest of Pi-Day activities to share!  Not only will she be dressed as a Pirate (because Pi rates!), she’ll also offer you delicious pie to eat while showing you great Pi-Day Math activities to make and take, to use in your classroom to celebrate Pi day! The Pi-Day activities include RAFT Math Idea Sheet activities like Finding Pi , Wearable Pi and Pi Day Pin . Irrational number Pi, also written as π, is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, and is celebrated all over the world on March 14th because π is a number that begins as 3.14!  With the use of computers, Pi has been calculated trillions of digits past the decimal point! Pi is an irrational and transcendental number, and its digits continue infinitely without any repeating patterns of digits!  Pi has been used in many applications for over 4000 years! π rate activity days at RAFT! Join us at RAFT, San Jose

Why I Chose a Career in Education

There are many moments where I am reminded why I chose a career in education. These moments arise when I am engaged in conversation with other teachers, conducting professional development workshops, developing new lessons, or simply reading about changes and latest developments in the field. Education is a dynamic field, and it has provided me with many opportunities to positively impact the lives of young learners as well as provide inspiration and support to new teachers. One such occasion occurred in mid-April when I was invited by Dr. Rosalinda Quintanar to conduct a presentation to students in a class entitled Meeting the Needs of Second-Language Learners (EDTE 162), a course within San Jose State University’s Teacher Education Department and a credential requirement. The class consisted of approximately 30 credential candidates, and its primary focus is applying theory and practical classroom techniques for providing equitable access to content for English language learners.