The Blue Dragon
Programme 13: Sounds Right
This is the final programme in the current series of The Blue Dragon and not only
does it aim to develop children's understanding of sound but it also offers
the opportunity to develop the idea of a 'cliffhanger' ending –
will Cinders find her mother or not and what do children think will happen next
– which is an excellent link to literacy and writing alternative endings
to a story.
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In the final programme in this series the characters are to be found at the edge
of a wood where they can hear a sound.
The characters talk about their favourite sounds and about different ears, as well
as how sounds can give us clues as to what is happening.
They follow the sound of water and come across a magical waterfall. They then go
behind the waterfall. The friends find a Unicorn and follow the Unicorn in the hope
that it will lead them to the blue dragon's mother.
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The programme explores:
- different kinds of sounds;
- different materials that make different sounds;
- sounds that are low, high, quiet and loud;
- different animals have different ears.
There are many curriculum links that can be made for example:
- Music – making their own music, for example, a rap song.
- English – telling a story and creating sound effects to go with it.
- Design and technology – designing and making their own musical instruments or sound-makers.
- Geography – finding out about musical instruments used in different countries around the world.
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People hear when vibrations travel through the air and reach their ear. Most animals
hear this way, but some animals hear differently. Different animals have different
ears – foxes have large ears to hear very quiet sounds whilst crickets,
for example, have ears on their legs and the mosquito uses its antennae.
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Provide children with a range of different materials and sound-makers so that they
can explore making sounds belonging to different animals. Give pairs of children
a card with an animal name or animal and action, for example horse galloping, and
ask them to make the sound effects.
Some TV programmes introduce characters in a scene with sound effects, especially
dangerous characters. Ask children to create sound effects for the characters in
the story, so what would be the sound that tells the audience that Cinders is just
about to appear, and what would the sound effect be like if it was the wolf?
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