The fifth graders all had their heads down on their desks — but not because they were in trouble.
With one ear pressed to the desk and their hands covering the exposed ear, they were listening to Melissa Wells, a professor in the College of Education at the University of Mary Washington, pluck the strings of a monochord, an instrument that originated in ancient Greece.
Wells was demonstrating how sound waves travel faster through solid matter than through liquid or gas.
Later, the students, who were visiting from Stafford County’s Hartwood Elementary School, would choreograph dances to show how sound is energy transferred through vibrations, how the speed of the vibrations affects pitch and how matter affects how quickly or slowly sound waves travel.
“They’re learning without knowing they’re learning,” said Brian Raska, principal of Hartwood Elementary.
