About

Music and singing are important to human life. Every culture has its music and musical instruments. There are many kinds of musical instruments divided into strings, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. A musical instrument is something that makes musical sounds. Any object that makes a sound can be a musical instrument. Many people play music using ordinary objects as musical instruments. Pots and pans, oil drums, wine glasses, have all been used as musical instruments.
 

Your task

Design a musical instrument made from scrap objects that you have found. You may use an object that naturally makes a musical sound, or you may modify an object to make a sound, as long as it is musical. Do this design topic on your own, or together with a classmate.​​​​​​
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Follow the design steps

To design something well, do it step-by-step and use the methods from the Design Thinking for Schools website. There are four design steps. The first step is LEARN. To design something, you must first learn about it. There is much to learn on any topic, and it is always interesting. Learning will help you to understand the thing that you are designing, so you can do a good job. The second step is DRAW. Try to think of as many different ideas as you can while you draw them with pencil on paper. Keep drawing until you have some ideas that you really like. Improve your ideas and combine them into a single excellent idea. Drawing is easy and fun. Enjoy it! The third step is MAKE. Make the thing that you are designing to show your teacher and classmates. You can only tell if your idea works by making it. Improve your idea while you are making it. Making something with your hands is fun too! The fourth step is TRY. Once you have made something, you should try it to see if it works or not. You can also let someone else try it to see what they think. When you try, you will often find ways to improve your design idea. That will make you a better designer.
 

​​​​​​​Note for teachers

Read the guide for teachers on Safety for the MAKE Step for Level II to safely supervise this design task.