Year 9 – Lesson 4 – Good vibrations

Curriculum KS3 Unit Lesson

Tracing the steps of a hiker through the altitude data that she transmits, learners will familiarise themselves with the basic concepts necessary for understanding any analogue to digital conversion: samples, sampling rate, and sample size.

The main goal is for learners to understand the ‘big picture’ of how sound is captured, digitised, manipulated, and reproduced in digital devices.

Learning objectives

  • Recall that sound is a wave
  • Explain the function of microphones and speakers as components that capture and generate sound
  • Define key terms such as ‘sample’, ‘sampling frequency/rate’, ‘sample size’
  • Describe how sounds are represented as sequences of bits

Package contents

  • Lesson plans
  • Slide decks
  • Learner resources
  • Homework