Introduction
This webquest is designed specifically for middle school students already familiar with the workings of the larynx and vocal folds to produce sound. Through this webquest, students will research how puberty can affect a person's pitch, and learn how each gender differs in this process. As part of this webquest, students will construct a timeline detailing the happens at certain times and ages in a person's life.
Task
In the beginning of this webquest, you will work individually to learn about how puberty affects the pitch of a person's voice. Secondly, with a partner, you will construct a timeline using information about a person's voice at certain periods throughout their life.
Process
Part 1
Step 1: (Individual)
Click on the following link:
Step 2: Read the material on the first and second pages.
Step 3: Answer the following questions in your notebook:
1) REVIEW - Where is the larynx located in the throat?
2) REVIEW - What happens to the vocal cords/folds when a person takes a breath?
3) NEW - Describe the factors that occur in a person’s body (guys or girls) that would cause the pitch of their voice to change?
4) NEW - What happens to cause a guy to develop an “Adam’s Apple”?
5) NEW - Why is a male’s voice generally deeper than a female’s voice?
6) NEW - Describe why a person’s voice will ‘crack’ or ‘break’ during puberty.
7) NEW - Fill in the blank - The _______ a guy's larynx, the _________ the vocal cords, and the ________ the resonating area, the _________ his voice will be.
8) NEW - What is the meaning of the statement above?
Part 2: Construct a timeline. Provide details of certain developmental moments of the voice.
Choose from the following two websites to construct your timeline.
In your timeline, include the 5 major developmental time periods in one's voice as they grow. Those 5 major developmental periods are '0-6 years old', '7-11 years old', '12-18 years old', and 'adult years'.
On the link above, be sure to click "Chapter 4: Voice development over the lifespan" to download the pdf document. This is the information you will need for the timeline.
Evaluation
Refer to the Grading Rubric hanging in the class to see the requirements for each assignment.
Conclusion
If I were to ask you this simple question, think of your response BEFORE you completed this webquest: "What causes a person's voice to change". Usually, your answer would have been simply, "Puberty". From this activity, you have discovered the ways in which our voices grow and change even before a young person becomes an adult. Even as adults continue to grow, experimenting and training their voice into their 30's, 40's and 50's, their voice sometimes doesn't settle until very late in their lives. My hope is that you will use this information, as well as what you learned during the vocal health unit to take to heart the seriousness and complexity that is...you!
Use the information in this webquest to begin the next one called: 'Vocal Developmental Periods'.