Science and Sound

The science of sound is called acoustics. Acoustical Engineers usually design work areas, buildings, cars and machines in a way that reduces noise pollution. Or your future Acoustic Engineer may have a hidden talent for musical acoustic applications. So pad the walls because this week we are making NOISE!

The children learned about and then created their own soundwave patterns in class. Ask them to sound out the pattern they chose to draw. [The longer space between the waves shows low pitch sounds, waves close together are high pitch sounds. Tall waves are loud and short waves are quiet.] We experimented with banging pans next to a tightly stretched covered bowl that had rice on it. As they banged on a separate pan, they could see the rice jump due to the invisible sound vibrations in the air. I compared this to how our eardrums work to collect sound vibrations. I always use this time to explain why we never stick anything in our ears too. lol. We used different water level filled glasses to explain changes in pitch. Homemade rubberband instruments were in the room to be used by the kids to actually see vibration associated with sound. Letting air out of the neck of a balloon simulates how their vocal chords tighten and relax to produce sound changes called pitch.

Finally, we reinvented the telephone, taking all our new knowledge to make them work. Yes, we actually told our children to "please talk in class"!