Oak Tree in an Acorn: Design Your Own Instrument

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Design Your Own Instrument

Olivia's QUEST class project was to research an instrument of her choice and how it makes sound, and then design and create one herself using clean trash. The one criteria of the instrument was that it had to have at least two pitches. The teacher had the band director from Vista Ridge High School come and talk with the students about instrument design and sound. Several high school students came with him to play their instruments for the kids.

At home we watched the YouTube video of the Vienna Vegetable Orchestra and the girls jammed out with our Thanksgiving pumpkins and other squash. (We did end up eating the squash for dinner the next day so as not to waste it, and it was very, shall we say, tender!)

Olivia chose to make a bass drum with three different pitches using an old bathroom trashcan. The top, middle, and bottom made different sounds. At the end of the presentation, the kids played "Frosty the Snowman" with their trash band instruments.

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Why the title, "Oak Tree in an Acorn"?

Well, really it's all about perspective when raising the girls. It helps me to think about the grand scheme of parenting and remember that what we do now affects how our little acorns will grow. Like an oak tree, we want them to be strong in their words and deeds, be able to withstand life's storms, set and reach their goals, and be people that others can lean on and trust.

We have an oak tree planted in our yard that came from an acorn my dad planted in a pot. This acorn came from a huge oak tree that was planted in the backyard of my dad's childhood home. My dad's father also planted this tree from an acorn he found on his hunting lease in the early 1960's. Our tree is thus a family heirloom, a "family tree".

It was the year of Olivia's birth when we planted our little sapling. It looked so very sad that winter with no leaves; it was, basically, like a stick rooted in the ground. Five years later, though, it stands 9 feet tall, and we continue to nurture it and watch it grow. We hope one year it will produce acorns of its own, and we can continue to pass on this family heirloom. We hope to remember it's example of how each acorn has the potential to be an oak tree, and how our acorns, Olivia and Genevieve, will one day, with help from God, become mighty oak trees themselves.