PhD Science Texas - Level 2 Module 2 - KD Poster

The Recycled Orchestra of Cateura

A worn-out shoe, a scrap of wood, and a broken lock may seem worthless. But objects like these can be made into musical instruments! In Cateura, a community in Paraguay, music students learn to play instruments created from objects that people threw away. The people of Cateura live along a landfill, which they search for useful objects. In the instrument makers’ hands, an old metal pipe becomes a flute. A faucet handle is part of a cello. A bent fork holds violin strings in place. In the players’ hands, recycled instruments make the sounds of music. Hundreds of students have joined the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura. The orchestra plays music for audiences all over the world.

The Eardrum

Footsteps thump, a doorknob clicks, hinges squeak. Shh, someone is coming! How do we know? Sound can tell us information if we listen carefully. First, sound enters an ear. Then it travels down a dark, narrow tunnel. At the end is a special body part made of skin so thin you can almost see through it. Stretched tight across the tunnel opening, the skin is like the top of a drum. This body part is called the eardrum. Eardrums are oval-shaped, smaller than a dime, and flexible—like tiny trampolines. Doctors use a small flashlight with a magnifier attached to see eardrums. A person can only hear sound clearly when it reaches their eardrums. Without eardrums, sound could seem like silence.

Talking Drum

Music is made of sounds. Messages can be made of sounds too. Someone who plays music can also be a messenger. People in Senegal play a drum called a tama. They use the tama to make music and send messages. When people hear a tama in their community, they might start dancing to the music, or they might gather to hear the tama drummer’s message. Will there be a wedding? Did someone have a baby? The drummer announces the community news. Tama drummers practice sounds like writers practice spelling. Together, different tama sounds form words. The tama sounds like it speaks a human language, such as Wolof, a language of Senegal. The tama is a talking drum!