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EngineeringMusicMath

Music Festival Systems Lab

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Grades 6-860-75 minSource: Creative Dad Company

Students plan the behind-the-scenes parts of a mini music festival: power, speaker placement, stages, and how a crowd moves between two stages. They use a scaled-down real place like a backyard or gym. It is systems thinking with a soundtrack.

Budget levels

Amazon prices checked Oct 9-10, 2026 and may change

Materials links go to Amazon. Prices are estimates and may change. As an Amazon Associate, Creative Dad Company earns from qualifying purchases.

Quick Start

Digital downloads only.

$0 to buy. Printing noted separately.

Student time: one class period, one day.

Teacher prep / build-ahead: separate from student time.

Scale it

The default plan is one class period on a single day.

Scale back: Fit it into a shorter period, use fewer effects, or run a demo instead of a build.

Scale up: Add one extra effect, or spread the share-out across another day.

Ambiance video

Ambiance video coming soon from Creative Dad Studio

  • Free school device decibel meter appBorrow or school hasuse what you have
  • measuring tapeBorrow or school hasuse what you have

Full Experience

Required materials for the class.

$6.99 per class (class of about 30, 6 groups).

Student time: one day.

Teacher prep / build-ahead: separate from student time.

Scale it

The default plan is one school day.

Scale back: Fit the build into one period with fewer effects.

Scale up: Spread the work across days, or add more effects.

  • blanket or foam scraps for material testsRequired1 x 10 sheets10 sheets$6.99Amazon

Total Transformation

The bigger kit, with every optional item included.

$6.99 per class (class of about 30, 6 groups).

Student time: one day (one session, one-day event).

Teacher prep / build-ahead: separate from student time.

Scale it

The default plan is one session, a one-day event.

Scale back: Shorten the event, or run a demo for a smaller audience.

Scale up: Spread the build and the event across days, or invite a bigger audience.

Materials

A real space (backyard or gym) to survey; Paper for a scaled floor plan; Ruler or measuring tape; Free school device decibel meter app; blanket or foam scraps for material tests

Materials links go to Amazon. Prices are estimates and may change.

As an Amazon Associate, Creative Dad Company earns from qualifying purchases.

  • Paper

    Paper for a scaled floor plan

    No link

  • Measuring tape

    Ruler or measuring tape

    Shop

Steps

  1. Walk the real space (gym, yard, or hallway) and list every surface: brick walls, grass, curtains, glass, bleachers, people. Predict where sound will carry well, echo, or go muddy.
  2. Material test: play the same tone from a school device speaker toward each surface type from the same distance and measure the level in front of and behind or beside the material with a free decibel app. Record whether each material mostly reflects, absorbs, or transmits sound.
  3. Draw a wave model of the site: arrows for sound leaving each stage, showing where waves bounce (reflect), fade (absorb), or pass through (transmit) based on your test data. Mark predicted dead zones and echo zones.
  4. Use the model to predict decibel readings at 6 marked spots, then measure them with the speaker in place and record predicted versus measured values. Revise the model where they do not match.
  5. Design two competing scaled floor plans showing stages, speaker zones, power lines, and walkways, each using the model to place speakers and absorbing barriers.
  6. Score both plans in a decision matrix against criteria (sound coverage, no overlap between stages, crowd flow) and constraints (power cords not in walkways, noise limit at the neighbor line, budget). Walk a pretend crowd through each to score flow.
  7. Present the winning plan to a promoter panel using the wave model, decibel data, and matrix scores to justify every placement.

Standards mapped

  • NGSS · MS-PS4-2

    Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials.

  • NGSS · MS-ETS1-2

    Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.