Activity Overview
Students create an altered musical melody by dividing fractions. They compute the value of notes in terms of fractions and make their sum equal to the time signature.
Objectives
Students will explore the following concepts in this activity:
- fractions
- computation
- problem solving
About the Lesson
Discuss with students the problem on the Dividing Notes activity page. Make sure they understand the parameters of the final product they are to produce. Review the note values shown in the chart. Note heads for quarter notes and eighth notes need to be filled in. Note heads of half notes and whole notes are left empty. Students will use their calculators as they explore the following:
The Problem: How can division with fractions help solve a music problem?
Students will create a display to show a melody and provide an explanation of the fractional value of each note in the melody.