As part of the new education initiatives of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA), an activity kit for teachers that includes a variety of lessons addressing acoustics1 for a range of students (K-12) has been created. The “Sound and Music Activity Kit” is free to K-12 teachers. It includes materials sufficient to teach a class of 30 students plus a USB thumb drive containing 47 research-based, interactive, student-tested lessons, laboratory exercises, several assessments, and video clips of a class using the materials. ASA has also partnered with both the Optical Society of America (OSA) and the American Association of Physics Teachers. AAPT Physics Teaching Resource Agents (PTRA) have reviewed the lessons along with members of the ASA Teacher Activity Kit Committee. Topics include basic learning goals for teaching the physics of sound with examples and applications relating to medical imaging, animal bioacoustics, physical and psychological acoustics, speech, audiology, and architectural acoustics.

1.
Thomas D.
Rossing
,
F. Richard
Moore
, and
Paul A.
Wheeler
,
The Science of Sound
, 3rd ed. (
Addison-Wesley
,
2002
).
2.
Susan A.
Ambrose
,
Michael W.
Bridges
,
Michele
DiPietro
,
Marsha C.
Lovett
, and
Marie K.
Norman
,
How Learning Works: Seven Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching
(
Wiley
,
2010
).
3.
Richard
Hake
,
“Interactive-engagement versus traditional methods: A six-thousand-student survey of mechanics test data for introductory physics courses,”
Am. J. Phys.
66
,
64
74
(
Jan. 1998
).
AAPT members receive access to The Physics Teacher and the American Journal of Physics as a member benefit. To learn more about this member benefit and becoming an AAPT member, visit the Joining AAPT page.