Pedagogy: Scholarly magazine article
A must-read article from Science magazine, this item summarizes the research efforts of the PhET project on the use of interactive simulations in the physics classroom.  Results indicate that concept mastery is measurably improved when students explore simulated physical processes in addition to traditional labs.  Use of simulations was also correlated to higher student motivation and active involvement in the learning process.  (Open Website)

Introductory Tutorial
A straightforward interactive tutorial suitable for crossover teachers or K-8 physical science teachers who would like a refresher on the topic of waves.  This is part of the respected Physics Classroom tutorial collection, and covers wave categories, properties and behavior of waves, and how waves transport energy.  (Open Website)

New and crossover teachers often appreciate a way to "see" physics beyond the pages of a textbook.  This interactive tutorial covers every topic typically studied in an introduction to Waves.  There are 20 sequenced tutorials, each with a discussion of one focused idea, a Java simulation that depicts that idea, and self-guided questions at the end.  (Open Website)

Reference Material                                                                Grades 6-12
Don't be scared off by the title of this item.  It is a fascinating resource that features a "thematic search engine" for locating information and examples of sound, sound waves, acoustics, hearing, and other related topics.  Each topic is accompanied by audio clips from the library of the World Soundscape Project.  For example, the topic "Hearing Loss" contains an audio simulation of normal and impaired hearing as a result of noise exposure.  Students will enjoy playing around with this one.  (Open Website)

Tutorials for Students                                                            Grades 6-9                        
A visually appealing tutorial on the fundamentals of traveling waves.  It contains video clips, short animations, and interactive Q&A sets.  Each slide is voice narrated, which could be ideal for students with disabilities.  (Part of a full module on Waves.)  (Open Website)

Hands-On Experiments                                                            Grades 8-12
Full guidelines for set-up of eight classroom activities designed to introduce students to various types of waves and the language used to describe them.  Students learn about transverse, longitudinal, electromagnetic, and water waves through simple and practical experiments.  This resource is appropriate for grades 8-12, and could also serve well as a refresher for AP physics classes.  (Open Website)

Lesson Plan: 50 minutes                                                            Grades 6-9
This is a multimedia lesson plan that integrates a short video, "Making Big Waves", with a detailed lesson plan on using Slinky springs to model transverse and longitudinal waves.  This web site gives teachers great support in the form of background information on wave energy, discussion questions, and tips for implementing the activity effectively.  (Open Website)

Lab/Instructor's Guide                                                                     Grades 6-12
A great way to spark student interest in wave motion is through the study of tsunamis.  This magazine article, which appeared in The Physics Teacher in 2006, provides a step-by-step blueprint for constructing your own low-cost tsunami tank for experimenting in the classroom.  Related classroom activities capture the essential physics of tsunamis.  Try teaming these activities with the interactive computer simulation below, "Michigan State Tsunami Simulator".   (Open Website)

Hands-On Activity: 30 minutes                                                            Grades 6-12
A Slinky spring is one of the best ways to model both transverse and longitudinal waves.  Teaching tips in this web site explain how to get the best results. Try teaming this experiment with the one above that uses dynamics trolleys connected by springs.  Students can compare/contrast the wave motion in a continuous versus a dispersive system (trolleys).  (Open Website)

Video Clips
A set of 3 high-quality video clips that show wave pulses on a Slinky spring.  One depicts a transverse wave pulse and its reflection off an fixed end.  A second shows a longitudinal pulse, and the third shows two wave pulses passing over each other. For free software tools to do computer analysis of these videos frame-by-frame, see the "Tracker Video Analysis" item below.  (Open Website)

Interactive Simulation                                                                 Grades 6-12
Mechanical waves can be modeled well through computer simulations that depict the motion of particles as the wave disturbance travels through a material.  This web-based tutorial for grades 6-12, developed by the University of Utah's ASPIRE Lab, is an excellent visualization tool for students.  Don't miss the water wave simulation.  It clearly shows the repeating pattern of a periodic wave, helping students understand that the particles oscillate but are not propelled forward by the wave.  (Open Website)

Interactive Simulation                                                                Grades 5-8
Did you know that a tsunami is actually classified as a shallow water wave (SWW)?  That's because when it begins, it has a huge wavelength compared to its amplitude.  As a tsunami approaches shore, all that energy has to go somewhere.  This interactive simulation, appropriate for grades 5-8 with teacher support, is an excellent model of a tsunami wave as it hits shore.  Students can change the shape of the sea bed at the coastline and watch the effects.  (Open Website)

Exactly what is a tsunami and how does it differ from a regular water wave?  Why is it so destructive to a shoreline when it looks harmless at sea?  This excellent resource from WNET-TV in New York features a magazine-style set of three articles on tsunamis, explaining what causes them and how they travel.  Don't miss the animation of a subduction-zone earthquake (a frequent cause of tsunami) and the interview with a survivor.  (Open Website)

Interactive Tutorials                                                                       Grades 9-12
One way to get students excited about wave energy is to study tsunamis.  How can a wave that is barely visible to a ship at sea become so destructive upon reaching a shoreline?  This set of tutorials, simple enough for students to understand, explains how these catastrophic wave trains originate and propagate through vast oceanic distances.  Each tutorial is accompanied by simulations that model the fundamentals of this phenomenon.  (Open Website)

This page, part of an award-winning web site on wave animations, shows how particles move in different types of waves.  Students can clearly see that the particles do not move along with the waves, they simply oscillate back and forth as the wave passes by.  (Open Website)

This interactive tutorial, part of the respected Physics Classroom web site, explores the three major types of mechanical waves:  transverse, longitudinal, and surface.  Also included is a brief discussion of electromagnetic waves. The author uses simple language and animations to make points clear, and there is a self-guided set of questions at the end.  (Open Website)

Interactive Simulation                                                                      Grades 6-12
A wonderful way to introduce students to properties of waves.  As the students open the applet, they are invited to "wiggle" a string to create a wave.  They can set amplitude, frequency, damping, and string tension and watch the variable results.  Waves can be manually or automatically generated.  Finally, students can view the string's vibration with a fixed end, a loose end, or no end.  Part of the PhET resource collection. See related teacher-created activity (directly below), developed for use in middle school classrooms with "Wave On a String".  (Open Website)

Simulation-based Activity                                                          Grades 7-9
This printable student guide/worksheet was created by a middle school teacher specifically for use with the PhET Wave on a String simulation (see activity above).  Students gather data to explore how frequency, amplitude, wave speed, and string tension are related.  **NOTE: Students must have Internet access to complete this activity.  (Open Website)

Interactive Simulation-Based Worksheet                                             Grades 8-9
This student worksheet was developed by a high school teacher for use with the PhET simulation "Wave on a String".  It provides a very thorough road map for physical science students to learn about amplitude and frequency in an interactive environment.  Allow two days in the computer lab.  (Open Website)

It can be easy to confuse the frequency of a wave with a wave's quantity period.  This tutorial, part of the respected Physics Classroom, would be an excellent refresher on the topic for K-8 teachers.  A question-and-answer set at the end allows you to measure your own understanding.  (Open Website)

A wave transports energy along a medium without transporting matter.  The amount of energy carried by a wave is related to its amplitude.  This is an excellent tutorial for K-8 teachers who want to a refresher in wave energy.  For a related tutorial by the same author, see the tutorial on Frequency and period of a Wave (directly above).  (Open Website)

Educators' Guide                                                                       Grades 6-12
Students should whenever possible experiment for themselves using real equipment, rather than viewing only computer representations of ripple phenomena.  This educators' guide gives detailed information about how to acquire, set up, and implement ripple tank experiments in the physical science or physics classroom.  See related ripple tank activities developed by the same authors (below).  (Open Website)

Lab/Classroom Experiments                                                       Grades 6-12
Ripple tanks provide a powerful way to help students visualize wave behavior in general.  This set of 8 introductory labs allows students to become comfortable with ripple tanks by doing some simple experiments with pulses.  Appropriate for grades 6-12, with supervision.  (Open Website)

Exactly what happens to the amplitude of two waves on a single line when they meet each other?  Their amplitudes add.  This easy simulation helps students visualize exactly what is happening mathematically when two pulse waves "interfere" on a string.  They can slow the motion down to get a close look at the two wave graphs.  Be sure to ask them what happens if the two waves have the same frequency but one is positive and one negative (they cancel out at the point of greatest interference).  (Open Website)

Interactive Simulation                                                              Grades 9-12
An excellent Java applet for exploring the basics of wave reflection and refraction.  It shows a single wavefront in slow motion as it reaches a medium with a different refractive index.  Students can see how each point of the advancing wavefront is the center of a fresh disturbance and source of a new train of waves.  They can adjust the refractive index and angle of incidence of either medium.  (Open Website)

One of the best tutorials we have found on the topic of wave phenomena.  The author incorporates excellent animations and interactive simulations to explain the process of wave "interference", which occurs when one wave passes through another.  The section on wave properties is thorough, yet simple enough to be easily understood by users with little background in physics.  (Open Website)

Historic Film Clip
The phenomenon of resonance becomes very important in structural engineering, as can be observed in this historic video of the 1940 collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.  The famous suspension bridge disaster occurred when high wind gusts set up a resonant vibration in the bridge, causing large-amplitude oscillatory motion.  This video was digitally reformatted from the original film footage shot on the scene.  (Open Website)

Instructional Unit                                                                Grades 6-12
A set of exemplary modules related to sound and music, developed specifically for use in middle school and high school.  It is broken into well-organized short components for teachers who may wish to teach only one element of this subject matter.  Included are lessons and activities on frequency, wavelength, amplitude, pitch, the physics of sound, rhythms and beats, standing waves, harmonic series, and tuning systems. Worksheets include answer keys.  (Open Website)

Reference Material                                                                Grades 6-12
Don't be scared off by the title of this item.  It is a fascinating resource that features a "thematic search engine" for locating information and examples of sound, sound waves, acoustics, hearing, and other related topics.  Each topic is accompanied by audio clips from the library of the World Soundscape Project.  For example, the topic "Hearing Loss" contains an audio simulation of normal and impaired hearing as a result of noise exposure.  Students will enjoy playing around with this one.  (Open Website)

This item, developed for middle and high school students, explores the structure of the ear and the way sound is received and understood by the brain.  It explains the physical processes by which the outer, middle, and inner ears collect sound and relay it to nerve cells.  Java simulations take the user on an interactive journey through the human ear  (Open Website)

This resource is intended as an introductory primer on the physics of sound.  Students explore the concepts of amplitude and frequency, speed of sound,  diffraction, the Doppler effect, and more.  Don't miss the interactive sound simulator:  it lets students hear what happens when waves of different frequencies are combined.  (Open Website)