Attentiveness - Part 1

Last week we started with the Attentiveness unit.

The definition of Attentiveness: is to listen closely and watch carefully. With that being said the objective of it is to pay close attention and to concentrate.

We can look at Samuel, he heard someone calling him at night and thought it was Eli, but after several times Eli realized that it was God who was calling for Samuel and for Samuel just to listen closely to what God wants to tell him. (You can read about this in 1 Samuel 3: 1 - 14) God wants us to be aware of Him and always be alert and pay attention when he calls for us and wants us to listen very carefully what he wants from us.

The key to being attentiveness one needs to be able to hear and see, you need to communicate.

Sign language

Not everyone is able to communicate the way we do, deaf people communicate by using sign language. We learned how to sign the alphabet. 



A deaf child will be taught to sign whole words by showing them objects such as a ball and then showing them the sign for ball, that way they learn all types of things. Body language and facial expressions are also used as part of them learning and communication with whole word signing. 

Sign language is not only used in people, but dog trainers also use it to give commands to dogs and it has even been taught to chimpanzees and a gorilla names Koko. Koko could sign more than 1000 words.

A few of our sound experiments

Seeing sound

I forgot to take a picture but see the one below as an indication of what we did.

What you need:
a bowl; plastic; rubberband and tape; a few grains of rice; a pot and wooden spoon

Picture source: Sound - tune into sound and see the way it works by Steve Parker

What you need to do:
Just as the picture above, cover the bowl with plastic, secure it with tape and a rubber band on the bowl. Place a few grains of rice on top. Take the other pot hold it close to the bowl and bang it as hard as you can with a wooden spoon.

What happens:
The bashing of the spoon against the pot produces sound waves and this cause the plastic to vibrate and the grains to jump up and down.

This experiment demonstrates exactly how your eardrum also works. Sound that reaches the eardrum which vibrates and enables you to hear sounds around you.

Shooting with sound

What you need:
A toilet-roll; plastic; rubber band; Piece of card stock; cut out to cover the front part; A piece of paper

What you need to do:
Make a small hole in the centre of the card stock. With sticky tape secure the round piece of card stock to the toiletroll. At the other end secure the plastic with the rubber band.
Take the piece of paper and stick it to the table, with the long side bended upwards as in the picture.
Hit the plastic with your finger, make sure it is close to the paper. 

What happens:
The sound waves are concentrated and moves down the tube and escapes through the hole. The waves hit the paper and pushes it back. 

Optional: Instead of using a piece of paper you can use a burning candle. The sound waves are strong enough to blow out the candle.

Hearing sound

What you need:
A thin plastic tube, a funnel and sticky tape

What you need to do:

Make a steoschope

Put the funnel inside the tube and secure it with sticky tape. Make sure there is no air escaping so make a proper seal where the tube meets the funnel. We initially did this with the tube as you see in the picture but then later used a longer and thinner tube, that works best!

What happens:
When you place the funnel side on your friends chest, you can hear the heart beat very clearly, just like the doctors listen to your heart. The sound waves from your heart beat gathers in the funnel and travel down the tube towards your ear.

Megaphone

What you need:
A large sheet of paper or card stock and sticky tape.

What you need to do:
Roll the card stock/paper into a cone shape and secure with sticky tape.

Megaphone

What happens:
The cone shape collects all the sounds before it is able to spread out and amplifies the sound forward when you speak with it. When you listen with it, the sounds are collect in the open end and move towards your ear.