Soundscape measurement can be the basis of a variety of projects and experiments that a teacher can assign, or students can use for science class or a science fair. Below are some suggestions that can be the seed of a personal project. Feel free to suggest others.

• "Power of Parks" - This project is aimed to answer the question, do the interior of parks have different sound characteristics than outside, and how does this affect our feeling of pleasantness. Students take a sound measurement at the entrance of the park and in the interior. Over a number of parks, is there any consistency in the measurements? Do park sounds contribute to the perception of pleasantness? If so, how?

• Sound Over Time - Measure the same locations over a day, over weeks, months, or seasons. How does sound change for each time span? One example is to measure in a park when the trees have leaves on them and after they have fallen. What are differences in loudness and frequency and the balance of human and natural sounds? Does this relate to the perception of pleasantness?

• Sound in Different Ecoregions- Measure sound at a seashore or lakeside, in a forest or woods, in a field or desert, etc. How do treed and open spaces differ? How do waves and wind affect near and far sounds? If you're going on a trip to a different ecoregion (sea, lake, mountains, forest, prairies, desert, etc.), measure the sound and note differences.

• Man Versus Nature - Measure and compare sound in some parks and outdoor spaces, and measure sounds in some urban locations. Compare loudness and frequency characteristics between the two. Compare how these sounds relate to your perception of pleasantness.

• White Noise - You've heard the term and know that it comes from, at least, water and wind. Any other natural sources? Is there man-made white noise and, if so, how does it compare?

• Animal and Insect Sound Range - Certain locations and times of year are teaming with animal sounds (frogs in a swamp, cicadas in late summer, crickets at night, birds at many times of year and ecoregions). Choose one location to measure the loudness and frequency range. Associate as closely as you can the type of animals and insects to their sounds.

• Signature Sounds - A signature sound is one that can be associated with a town or location or a particular event. The clocktower bell in a town is a signature sound. So is the sound a foghorn or buoy in a shore town. MySoundscape has at least one measurement at the base of a wind turbine, another of trees being clearcut for a subdivision, and another of a rock band playing notes below our hearing (<20 Hz) that vibrate the torso. If you hear signature or unusual sounds, measure their loudness and frequency. 

• Digital Versus Natural Filtering - In digital signal processing a digital filter takes a signal as input and modifies it as output, for example by reducing noise. Nature has natural filters, such as fog that attenuates high frequency sound propogation, trees that reduce loudness, a calm lake that can seem to amplify sound, a mountainside that can divert the its path, and wind, rain, and ocean waves that mask sound. One can compare digital and natural filtering by showing how chosen digital filters affect sound loudness and frequencies in a simulated setting, and then finding similar effects in nature.

• Engineering Design Study - Engineering is all about efficiency and tradeoffs. Design three audio detection systems, one for bats, one for whales, and one for a leaf blower. The Nyquist Sampling Theorem is the fundamental criterion that will dictate the size, speed, complexity, and cost of the systems. In the course of this project, the student will learn, incorporate, and compare components of the system design that will include digital sampling, the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), digital filtering, and decibel and logarithmic scales.

• Digital Signal Processing, Coding, and Geo-Mapping - If you have skills or interest in any of these areas, suggest a project.