Save the Orchestra!

First, you will be assigned to a group of four students. Each group member will chose one of the following roles:

• Woodwind Expert - Research the woodwind family and present information to group.
  

• Brass Expert – Research the brass family and present information to group.
  
• Strings Expert - Research the strings family and present information to group.
  
• Percussion Expert - Research the percussion family and present information to group.

After choosing your role, use the following websites to research your instrument family:

Dallas Symphony Orchestra Kids
http://www.dsokids.com/2001/rooms/musicroom.asp

San Francisco Symphony Kids
http://www.sfskids.org/templates/home.asp?pageid=1

Play Music.Org
http://www.playmusic.org/index.html

Learn About Instruments
http://datadragon.com/education/instruments/

Energy in the Air: Sounds from the Orchestra
http://library.thinkquest.org/5116/

New York Philharmonic Kidzone
http://www.nyphilkids.org/main.phtml?

A Carnegie Hall Listening Adventure:
The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra
http://listeningadventures.carnegiehall.org/ypgto/index.aspx

Answer the following questions about your instrument family:
What are the characteristics of your family?
Which instruments fit in your family and why?

After completing your research, meet with your group and present what you have learned to them.

Next, work with your group and listen to musical excerpts from the websites listed above. Use the following questions to guide your discussion of the musical excerpts:

Which instruments play melody? accompaniment?
Which instruments seem to be the most important and why?
Would the orchestra be the same or sound the same if one of the families was missing?

Finally, work together to create a Power Point about the families of the orchestra and why each one is important. Your presentation should be aimed at making the people in charge of the orchestra understand why they cannot eliminate a family of instruments. The PowerPoint should be created according to the following guidelines:
•Title slide
•At least two slides per each instrument family
•Conclusion slide

Your group will present the PowerPoint to your clasmates and try to persuade them not to eliminate one of the families of the orchestra.