Activity ideas for Walk to School week 2008

Here are some noise-themed ideas for you to do during Walk to School week.

Conduct a noise poll in the school - what sounds do you like or dislike? How does it affect your quality of life? Do teachers and pupils like different noises? Discuss amplitude, resonance, frequency, pitch etc. Have a look at this website for some ideas: Noise Action Week

Use a blindfold (not while walking!) to find out what sounds are more obvious if you’re not able to see

Record an audio diary and compare journeys based on the following:
Urban/Country
Walk/Car
Past/present/what would future sound like?
UK/World

Ask pupils to record their journey to school and see if the rest of the class can guess whose it is.

Record a mystery sound and see if the children can identify it.

Hold a scavenger hunt - how many sounds can the children identify (and write down) on the journey to school?

Conduct a sound walk around the school premises – identify the quietest and noisiest areas and does this change depending on the time of day?

Organise a sponsored silence on the walk to school – identify noises you that you wouldn’t hear normally.

How many different bird songs can the children hear and identify? RSPB birdsong guide

Ask pupils if they could use any piece of transport to travel to school in the future, what would it sound like? For example, teleporting noise.

Rework "I’m going on a Bear hunt" for the walk to school. Click here for the original words and tune.

Ask the children to find out how far they can you walk to their favourite song?

Ask pupils to write a song/rap/poem about walking to school. Here is a poem by Charis Muir to give you inspiration.

Compose a radio jingle on walking to the different sounds you hear while walking to school. Maybe your local radio station would be interested in playing it?

Make a list of sounds heard on the walk to school for summer and winter and compare them.

See how noisy your local area is by looking at these tranquility maps of the UK published by the Campaign to Protect Rural England.

What about replacing the noise of cars on the school run with the sounds of carnival or samba bands?

Hold a Walking Curriculum Week. See these useful lesson plans from ETA.

Have a look at this website Every Journey Matters for more inspiration.

Here are some traffic sounds you can download and listen to.

More ideas to come - and let me know if you have any bright ideas of your own! (walktoschool@livingstreets.org.uk) If you want non noise-related classroom ideas click here.

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Activity ideas for Walk to School week 2008

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