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Let's Make Music
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In this activity, learners will create their own percussion instrument with recycled materials. Learners will explore design, fabrication, cause and effect and sound through this activity.

Cactus Needle Phonograph
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Build a phonograph record player using a cactus needle, a record, LEGOs gear box, and a piece of paper! This activity uses a Pico Cricket to turn the motor.

Matraca
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In this activity, learners create a traditional Mexican noisemaker (a matraca) using cardboard, craft sticks, and a wooden dowel.

Build a Band
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In this design challenge activity, learners build a four-stringed instrument that can play a tune.

Sound Automata
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In this activity, learners build their own sound machines and explore the interplay of motion and sound.

Make Pan Pipes
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This is a simple activity for learners to create a traditional musical instrument. Pan Pipes have developed all over the world in different cultures, from South America to Greece and China.

Torsion Drum
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In this activity, learners build a musical drum using a cardboard tube, plastic wrap, and beads.

How to Make an Audio Tape Bow
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From this How To slide show, you create an Audio Tape Bow that can play distorted audio sounds by running it across a tape head.

Wandering Wands
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In this activity, learners construct wands that play different notes depending on information from light sensors programmed via a PICO Cricket.

Musical Gloves
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Put on a pair of gloves and be the conductor of your invisible orchestra!

Slide Whistle
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In this activity, learners build a slide whistle using PVC pipe, bamboo skewer, and piece of foam. Construction of the instrument is relatively simple.

Energetic Musical Instruments
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Learners design and create musical instruments from common objects; their challenge is to create an instrument that can make three different tones.

Making Circuits
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In this activity, learners explore electricity and conductivity to find that many things conduct electricity including copper, pencil lead, fruit, play-doh, and even people!

Clap Sensor: Build a Sound Sensor Using a Pico Cricket
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This activity requires a Pico Cricket (tiny computer). Learners work on designing and building a sound sensor out of household materials, like plastic wrap and cardboard.

Sound Representation: Modems Unplugged
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In this activity, learners listen to songs and decode hidden messages based on the same principle as a modem. As a final challenge, learners decode the binary messages in a music video.

Musical Sculpting Machine: Squeeze Play-Doh to Make Music
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Play-Doh is conductive! Use the semiconductive qualities of Play-Doh to make your own squeezable instrument. Pico Cricket is required.

Headphone Helper
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In this design challenge activity, learners add headphones to a previously built instrument (see "Build a Band" activity) to make it easier to hear.

Engineered Music
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In this activity, learners explore how musical instruments are engineered.

Musical Ice: How to Make an Ice Theremin
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Build a musical ice theremin by programming a micro controller, like a Pico Cricket to respond to resistance generated by the ice melting, or the ice being touched.

Fruit Xylophone: Fruit Salad Instrument of the Future!
Source Institutions
This is a perfect summertime lunch activity! Pico Cricket is required (micro controller). First, get a bunch of cut up fruit, line them up, then plug a piece of fruit with a Pico Cricket sensor clip.