Materials List: Monitoring Noise Levels with a Smart Device

Each group needs:

  • smart phone or tablet with a noise monitoring app such as the following:
    • A free noise-monitoring app for Android devices is Decibel Pro: dB sound level meter
    • An $8 app for Android devices is Audio Tool, which is optimal if you have a high-quality sound level meter that you can use to calibrate each smart device; this app is purchased for use on school tablets; the app only needs to be purchased once; by logging into the appropriate Google account, the app can be loaded onto all tablets
    • A $10 app for Apple devices is SPL Graph
  • (optional) external microphone, to connect to smart phone or tablet
  • stopwatch
  • computer with Excel® or other spreadsheet software
  • Physics of Sound Worksheet, one per student
  • Observations Worksheet
  • Data Analysis Worksheet
  • Physics of Sound Quiz, one per student

To share with the entire class:

https://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/cub-1971-monitoring-noise-levels-smart-device-physics