What if we could translate data into music?

Suitable for secondary, high school and college students, this article and accompanying activity sheet can be used in the classroom, school clubs and at home.

This resource links to KS4 and KS5 computer science, mathematics and music.

It can also be used as a careers resource and links to Gatsby Benchmarks:
Gatsby Benchmark 2: Learning from career and labour market information
Gatsby Benchmark 4: Linking curriculum learning to careers

• Emerging research shows that the human ear has the capacity to process information far better than the eye and yet, despite the importance of sound in so many aspects of our lives, its role in the interpretation of scientific data is fairly limited. Glenn McClure and is team is using advanced mathematical techniques to translate complex data sets into music - through a process called sonification.

• This resource also introduces the Artists and Writer Collective (AAWC). Through the AAWC, artists team up with scientific research teams in the Antarctic and tell their stories in imaginative ways.

• There is an interview with Glenn about his career path. If your students (or you) have questions for Glenn, you/they can send them to him online. All you need to do is to go to the article online (see the Futurum link below), scroll down to the end and type in the question(s). Glenn will reply!

• The activity sheet provides ‘talking points’ (based on Bloom’s Taxonomy) and activities to prompt students to reflect on Glenn’s’s research.

This resource was first published on Futurum Careers, a free online resource and magazine aimed at encouraging 14-19-year-olds worldwide to pursue careers in science, tech, engineering, maths, medicine (STEM) and social sciences, humanities and the arts for people and the economy (SHAPE).

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