L'udito (hearing)

We have begun learning about l’udito (hearing) this week. The Prep - Grade 2 students have been investigating sounds that are piano (soft) and forte (loud). The older students have been learning about how our ears (le orecchie) detect sound waves (onde sonore). We did an experiment for which we made a gong out of a coat hanger! If you don’t believe it’s possible, try it yourself at home!

What you need:
- a metal coat hanger
- two pieces of fishing wire or string (each about 50cm long)
- sticky tape (two small pieces to tape the knotted string in place so it doesn’t move along the hanger)
- a spoon or pencil to hit the “gong” with

Method:
1. Tie the strings to the corners of the coat hanger and secure with sticky tape.
2. Hold the strings in your fingers and have someone tap the coat hanger with a spoon or pencil. (Alternatively you can knock it softly against a hard surface.)
3. Wrap each string around your index fingers and block your ears with your fingers.
4. Repeat the experiment with your fingers in your ears. How does the sound change? Why?

How the hanger gong works!
Image from: Renee, R. (2000). Good vibrations: Experimenting with sound. Rigby Heinemann: Port Melbourne.

 

Playing "Dove sono?" ("Where am I?") to investigate how our
hearing is affected with distance and by using one ear vs two ears.

 

Here are some cool videos about hearing and soundwaves. Click on the links to watch them.

Sound waves

Visible Sound Waves

We have been getting some fantastic comments on the blog! If you would like to write a comment, just follow these simple steps:

1.      Click on the blue/purple “comments” at the bottom of a post.

2.      Write your comment/question in the box that appears.

3.      Select “Name/URL” in the drop-down box menu next to “Comment as:”

4.      Type your name then click “continue”.

5.      Click “publish”.

A presto!

Stephanie.

Il tatto (touch)

Ciao a tutti!

We have been continuing our exploration of il senso del tatto (our sense of touch) this week. The Prep-Grade 2 students have been investigating how we can use our sense of touch to get information about our surroundings rather than using our eyes. The children identified numbers made from pins stuck into cork boards using only their sense of touch. They then did some activities and games to practice i numeri (numbers).

See if you can sing along at home to this song to practice your numbers. Try teaching your family to count in Italian too!

 

1	uno	11	undici
2	due	12	dodici
3	tre	13	tredici
4	quattro	14	quattordici
5	cinque	15	quindici
6	sei	16	sedici
7	sette	17	diciassette
8	otto	18	diciotto
9	nove	19	diciannove
10	dieci	20	venti

 The Grade 3-6 students have been learning about how our sense of touch works, with receptors in our skin sending messages along nerves to our brain. We did an experiment called “two-point discrimination” to investigate the sensitivity to touch of various parts of our body. We compared our finger (il dito) to our leg (la gamba), and found that our fingertip is much more sensitive than our leg because it has a higher density of nerve endings (receptors).

Try it at home!

1.      Open up a paper clip and bend it into a U-shape so that there are two points about a cm apart.

2.      Close your eyes and have a partner push one (uno) or two (due) prongs of a paperclip against your fingertip. Say whether it was uno or due prongs. Repeat about 10 times and see how many you correct.

3.      Repeat with your leg and see if your finger (il dito) or leg (la gamba) is more sensitive.

4.      Try this with other parts of your body like your back, foot etc.

Well done to everyone who has posted a comment on the blog! If you would like to write a comment, just follow these simple steps:

1.      Click on the blue/purple “comments” at the bottom of a post.

2.      Write your comment/question in the box that appears.

3.      Select “Name/URL” in the drop-down box menu next to “Comment as:”

4.      Type your name then click “continue”.

5.      Click “publish”.

 I look forward to reading your comments!

Next week we will begin studying l’udito (hearing). Non vedo l’ora! (I can’t wait!)

Stephanie.

Buongiorno a tutti!

Firstly I want to say a big “grazie!” to the students who have written a comment on the SSPS Italiano! blog. I have been so impressed with your enthusiasm for learning Italian and the effort that you have put in to write a comment on the blog. Some students even wrote a comment in Italian. Bravi!

If you would like to write a comment, just follow these simple steps:

1.      Click on the blue/purple “comments” at the bottom of a post.

2.      Write your comment/question in the box that appears.

3.      Select “Name/URL” in the drop-down box menu next to “Comment as:”

4.      Type your name then click “continue”.

5.      Click “publish”.

I look forward to reading your comments!

This week we have begun exploring our sense of touch (il tatto) with mystery touchy-feely bags. We have learnt many adjectives to describe the objects in the bags. The older students have been adding to our adjective poster with words that they have found in the dictionary themselves. Here are some of the words that we have been using:

duro	hard	piccolo	small
morbido	soft	grande	big
soffice	fluffy, soft	spugnoso	spongy
rugoso	rugged, wrinkled	fibroso	stringy
ruvido	rough, coarse	gommoso	rubbery
liscio	smooth	appiccicoso	sticky
caldo	hot	elastico	elastic
freddo	cold	tondo	round

Try making your own mystery bags at home with your family and using these Italian words to describe the mystery objects!

Next week we will continue investigating il tatto, learning about how our sense of touch works. We will do an experiment to see if we have the same sensitivity all over our body or if some parts of our body are more sensitive than others.

A presto!

Stephanie.