What are the basic characteristics of sounds? How can we describe features of sound events? Objective This activity teaches how to describe features of sound events. The group will first learn six words related to sound. Then, they will play a game to show their understanding by creating sound events. Background Talking about unfamiliar sounds can be tricky. Even though we listen all the time, it’s often hard to find the right words to describe what we hear. If we know the source, we can simply name it (like “I hear a frog”). But if the sound is unfamiliar, we have to describe its traits (like Duration: 60 Minutes.