This video sample shows a wide variety of student thinking at the start of the unit. As the discussion develops, most students clarify their thinking on one part or another of the driving question: either (1) how information is transferred and received as communication through sound, or (2) how sound mechanically travels from place to place. 

The first student to respond to the teacher’s question (starting at 0:15) identifies several aspects relevant to the Grade 4 standards, including that sound travels as a wave (through a medium, such as air) and that sound must be received and processed for its information to be meaningful. Other students raise relevant ideas related to how sound travels, including how sound is created through vibration (beginning at 2:30 and again at 3:08). 

The video includes several students sharing ideas related to transferring information and communicating using sounds; in particular, interesting examples of sound serving as a non-linguistic signal are raised at several points, including related to clocks ticking (3:30), banging sounds (4:05), and sirens (5:05). These are helpful, nascent elements for the idea that waves, including sound waves, can transmit patterns in order to transfer information. Building on these ideas over the course of the unit will be one important way to potentially begin making sense of the student contribution (beginning at 2:40) for how phone technologies (whether wired or cellular) transmit sound across large distances.