Science · Grade 8 · 3 weeks
Mapping Wichita Siren Dead Zones
Driving question
Where does our outdoor tornado siren fail to reach, and how can we protect those dead zones?
Integrate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in a text with a version of that information expressed visually (e.g., in a flowchart, diagram, model, graph, or table).
TAUGHT IN Week 1, activity 3; Week 2, activity 3; Week 3, activity 1; Week 3, activity 2ASSESSED BY Technical and Visual Integration
Waves and Electromagnetic Radiation. Read it on nextgenscience.org
TAUGHT IN Week 1, activity 2; Week 2, activity 1; Week 2, activity 3; Week 3, activity 3ASSESSED BY Wave Amplitude and Energy
Waves and Electromagnetic Radiation. Read it on nextgenscience.org
TAUGHT IN Week 2, activity 2; Week 3, activity 1; Week 3, activity 3ASSESSED BY Wave Interaction with Materials
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Eighth-grade science students investigate how sound waves travel through outdoor environments by measuring the Monday outdoor emergency siren test across their Wichita school grounds and immediate neighborhood. Using calibrated decibel meter apps, students collect sound level data at increasing distances and behind physical obstacles such as brick walls, berms, and tree lines. They model wave amplitude, energy loss over distance, and how materials absorb, reflect, or transmit mechanical sound waves. The unit concludes with students producing annotated sound contour maps and a written safety brief delivered to local emergency management officials detailing siren coverage gaps and recommendations.
The teacher plays a brief recording of a Sedgwick County outdoor warning siren heard clearly outdoors versus muffled inside a brick hallway. Students step outside with clipboards to note where they think a siren sounds loudest and quietest on school grounds. The teacher asks what happens to people caught in areas where the siren cannot be heard during severe Kansas spring weather.
- What makes a sound wave loud or soft as it travels through the air?
- Why does the siren sound faint behind some walls but loud in open fields?
- How many decibels does a siren need to be for people to hear it safely?
- Who decides where sirens go in Wichita and what do they do about dead zones?
Your lessons: 5 a week, 50 minutes.
Week 1
Model how sound wave amplitude relates to energy and test sound apps before the drill.
Examine school campus maps, mark estimated siren locations, and record initial questions about siren audibility.
· 1 lessonUse tuning forks, slinkies, and an online wave simulator to model how wave amplitude connects to sound energy.
· 2 lessonsCalibrate phone sound meter apps against a steady classroom sound source and plan data collection points on the campus map. Replace the phone decibel app with the two school-owned sound level meters for the siren day and use phones only for the practice run.
· 2 lessons
Supports
Provide visual diagrams of wave peaks and amplitude definitions for multilingual learners, offer paired practice and pre-printed measurement grids for students with IEP or 504 plans, and challenge advanced students to calculate mathematical ratios of wave amplitude change.
Deliverable
A calibrated sound collection plan with baseline classroom decibel test data and a map of target sampling stations.
Week 2
Collect outdoor siren decibel data during the Monday test and investigate wave reflection and absorption.
Record decibel levels at assigned campus stations during the scheduled outdoor emergency siren test. Take one measuring station near Towne East Square and one in the residential blocks west of it so students see how a big building changes the readings.
· 1 lessonTest how brick, glass, dirt mounds, and trees absorb, reflect, or transmit sound waves using decibel meters and noise makers. Before the siren test, have students build a cardboard-and-tube model and measure how a wall between a speaker and a meter cuts the reading.
· 2 lessonsPlot siren decibel readings from last month's class data against distance using the published siren location map to analyze patterns in wave energy dissipation.
· 2 lessons
Supports
Supply sentence stems for describing wave behavior for multilingual learners, provide chunked lab steps with tactile sound barrier materials for IEP and 504 students, and invite fast learners to compare readings taken at ground level versus elevated positions.
Deliverable
A distance versus decibel scatter plot alongside a summary chart showing how three physical materials affect sound transmission.
Week 3
Build siren contour maps and finalize the coverage brief for local emergency managers.
Synthesize data into a color-coded sound contour map showing dead zones and draft the written emergency brief.
· 2 lessonsConduct a peer critique protocol using rubric guidelines to review partner teams' wave diagrams and data explanations.
· 1 lessonRevise maps and reports based on feedback and present findings to the invited emergency management representative.
· 2 lessons
Supports
Use bilingual graphic organizers connecting wave vocabulary to map legends for multilingual learners, allow digital speech-to-text or structured report templates for IEP and 504 students, and encourage advanced students to propose specific repeater horn placements using inverse-square estimates.
Deliverable
A completed Siren Coverage Report with an annotated contour map identifying school grounds dead zones.
Day 2 of Week 3
Teams display their draft maps and written findings in a structured gallery walk. Peers use sticky notes guided by two prompts: one specific wave behavior clearly explained, and one data point on the map needing clearer technical justification.
Student reflection
At the close of Week 3, each student completes an individual exit journal explaining how their understanding of sound waves changed from Week 1 and describing one way physical structures alter safety in their neighborhood.
What they make
Teams create an annotated Siren Coverage Report featuring a color-coded sound contour map of the school grounds and neighborhood, paired with an evidence-based explanation of wave behavior that identifies coverage dead zones.
Options
Teams choose whether to present their findings as a digital slide deck with overlaid map graphics, a large illustrated print poster board, or an executive printed brief with charts.
Who sees it
A representative from county emergency management and the school safety committee on the final day of Week 3.
Teams
Teams of 3 to 4 students, grouped by the teacher to mix student strengths in data graphing, mapping, and technical writing.
| Criterion | beginning | developing | proficient | advanced |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Wave Amplitude and Energy MS-PS4-1 · team | Describes sound as simply loud or quiet without mentioning wave amplitude or energy. | Identifies that higher amplitude means louder sound, but does not connect decibel readings to wave energy loss over distance. | Uses data from the siren test to explain how sound wave amplitude and energy decrease across measured distances. | Explains how sound wave amplitude and energy decrease over distance using precise numerical data trends and wave models to forecast sound levels at unmeasured points. |
Wave Interaction with Materials MS-PS4-2 · team | Claims sound stops behind objects without explaining whether it was absorbed, reflected, or transmitted. | Mentions reflection or absorption but confuses which structures blocked or redirected the siren waves. | Correctly describes how campus structures reflected, absorbed, or transmitted siren waves to create observed dead zones. | Compares multiple campus materials and models how their distinct physical properties cause varying degrees of reflection, absorption, and transmission. |
Technical and Visual Integration RST.6-8.7 · individual | Includes a map or chart but writes text that does not reference the graphic. | References the map or chart in the text, but leaves key data points or visual labels unexplained. | Integrates decibel data tables and contour maps directly with written text to explain where siren audibility fails. | Cross-references visual map zones, distance graphs, and written technical explanations so each directly reinforces and clarifies the other. |
Wave Amplitude and Energy
MS-PS4-1 · teambeginning
Describes sound as simply loud or quiet without mentioning wave amplitude or energy.
developing
Identifies that higher amplitude means louder sound, but does not connect decibel readings to wave energy loss over distance.
proficient
Uses data from the siren test to explain how sound wave amplitude and energy decrease across measured distances.
advanced
Explains how sound wave amplitude and energy decrease over distance using precise numerical data trends and wave models to forecast sound levels at unmeasured points.
Wave Interaction with Materials
MS-PS4-2 · teambeginning
Claims sound stops behind objects without explaining whether it was absorbed, reflected, or transmitted.
developing
Mentions reflection or absorption but confuses which structures blocked or redirected the siren waves.
proficient
Correctly describes how campus structures reflected, absorbed, or transmitted siren waves to create observed dead zones.
advanced
Compares multiple campus materials and models how their distinct physical properties cause varying degrees of reflection, absorption, and transmission.
Technical and Visual Integration
RST.6-8.7 · individualbeginning
Includes a map or chart but writes text that does not reference the graphic.
developing
References the map or chart in the text, but leaves key data points or visual labels unexplained.
proficient
Integrates decibel data tables and contour maps directly with written text to explain where siren audibility fails.
advanced
Cross-references visual map zones, distance graphs, and written technical explanations so each directly reinforces and clarifies the other.
- A satellite map printout of the school campus and surrounding streets
- Free downloadable sound decibel meter applications installed on student or school mobile devices
- A set of tuning forks, rubber mallets, and coiled spring wave toys
- Assorted testing barrier materials including bricks, wooden boards, foam panels, and fabric sheets
- The local county emergency management outdoor siren test schedule and decibel safety guidelinescheck before use