Fourth-grade students' learning about work and energy through music

The purpose of this study was to integrate music into a hands-on work and energy science unit to reinforce the concepts being taught. The study involved two classes of fourth grade students in an urban elementary school and took place over a period of four weeks. During the first week, hands-on lessons were taught to both classes. After the first week, while both classes continued to participate in hands-on activities, the treatment class began writing lyrics about the science concepts. The lyrics were combined with a tune. The control class discussed the science concepts. At the end of the four weeks, a posttest was administered. The results did not support the instructional effectiveness of integrating music into this particular science unit.