Children can learn to make choices which often improve the environment over which they have immediate control. This begins with students cataloging those sounds which have specific meaning in their lives. Understanding how sounds effect one emotionally is important when learning about sonic environments. It is suggested that students generate a multi-column form. In column one is listed the sounds which are a part of their immediate environment.
Students then identify, in column three, an emotional response each sound creates when it is heard.
Column four is used to note possible options for modification or elimination of a sound. The student also notes how these changes might alter the emotional factors listed in column three. A student may discover that there are sounds which he or she can change to make life more enjoyable. Perhaps by hanging a feeder outside the window bird song can be enhanced. Maybe moving one's bed from one end of the room to another, the sound of outside traffic will be reduced.