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How to See Sound Science Experiment
What does sound look like? This fun 5-item science experiment helps kids “see” sound waves and have fun while doing it.
In this article, we include a demonstration video, a supplies list, detailed printable instructions, experiment variations, and an easy to understand scientific explanation of how it works.
Bonus: Kids love this experiment because not only are they allowed to make loud drumming noises, it’s required!
JUMP TO SECTION: Instructions | Video Tutorial | How it Works
Supplies Needed
- Plastic Wrap
- 1 teaspoon Uncooked Rice
- Metal Pan (Cookie Sheets or Pans are good options, but they must be metal)
- Metal Spoon
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How to See Sound Science Experiment Instructions
Step 1 – Tear off a piece of plastic wrap big enough to cover the top of the bowl.
Step 2 – Secure the plastic wrap over the bowl. Make sure that the plastic wrap is very tight.
Step 3 – Pour 1 teaspoon of uncooked rice on the top of the plastic wrap.
Step 4 – Hold the metal pan in the air and position it next to the bowl. What do you think will happen if you hit the pan with the spoon?
Helpful Tip: Remember, the pan must be metal or the experiment won’t work.
Step 5 – Take the metal spoon and bang on the metal pan like a drum and watch what happens to the rice. Write down your observations. Do you know the why the rice moved? Find out the answer in the how does this experiment work section below.
Video Tutorial
How to See Sound Science Experiment Step by Step Instructional Video
How Does the Experiment Work?
Sound is a disturbance that travels through a medium as a wave. In this experiment, when you hit the metal pan with the spoon, you disturb the particles of the pan causing them to vibrate. The vibrations in the pan are transferred to the air surrounding the pan, creating a sound wave.
When these sound waves reach the plastic wrap it disturbs the particles of the plastic wrap causing them to vibrate. These vibrations in the plastic wrap cause the rice to move. Sound waves traveling through the air are also what allow us to hear the noise of the spoon hitting the pan.
Other Ideas to Try
Try this experiment again, but change the distance of the pan from the bowl. As you move the pan farther away from the bowl, do the sound waves have the same effect on the rice grains?
I hope you enjoyed the experiment. Here are some printable instructions:
Instructions
- Tear off a piece of plastic wrap big enough to cover the top of the bowl.
- Secure the plastic wrap over the bowl. Make sure that the plastic wrap is very tight.
- Pour 1 teaspoon of uncooked rice on the top of the plastic wrap.
- Hold the metal pan in the air and position it next to the bowl
- Take the metal spoon and bang on the metal pan like a drum and watch what happens to the rice.
Reader Interactions
September 27, 2016 at 2:29 pm
I am trying to see the answer for the “Why can’t we see sound?” but I xan’t find it here. Can you help me, please?
February 2, 2017 at 11:37 pm
Invisible sound waves
May 21, 2019 at 9:57 pm
Sound is a vibration
March 12, 2017 at 10:15 pm
Because when you hit the tin it makes a hard and loud noise.
December 7, 2017 at 2:44 pm
This was an amazing experiment ever
January 31, 2018 at 5:08 pm
It is because the rice is having potential energy while it is on the wrap. Than and only then when you hit the pan is when it turns to kinetic energy.
October 31, 2018 at 8:56 pm
The sound waves bounce off the pan and travel to the drum. The drum vibrates and the rice jumps.
January 26, 2019 at 5:32 pm
Why can’t I get this to work
does the type of plastic wrap matter?
March 9, 2020 at 8:21 pm
it doesn’t work for me too 🙁
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5 Sound Wave Experiments for Kids
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Teaching little ones about the 5 senses can be so much fun! Today I want to show you some fun and easy sound wave experiments you can do with your kids!
Sound Wave Experiments for Kids:
Following are five fun sound wave experiments you can make at home with just a few simple supplies. Your kids or students will love them. If you are teaching about the human body and how ears work, or maybe have a lesson on the five senses, I am sure you will find one of these that will work perfectly for you!
Experiment #1 The Magic Ear Trick
The first sound wave experiment is this magic ear trick. This sound trick makes you think the sound is coming from the opposite direction from where it really is coming from. It tricks your brain! We saw this at a science museum a few years back and my kids had so much fun with it that we wanted to try to recreate it at home.
To make it, you need small tubing (I got this fish tank tubing ), two small plastic funnels and a piece of PVC pipe or paper towel tube.
Attach a funnel to the end of each piece of tubing. We secured ours with duct tape .
Put the tubing through the pipe with each one going in the opposite direction.
Place the end pieces in each ear.
Have someone talk into the different funnels. You could move it up behind their head so they don’t know which one you are talking into. Then let them guess which side you are talking on. It will be the opposite ear from where you are making it like a magic trick!
It’s really funny to watch kids faces when they hear it. I love his confused look in that picture above! It got my son laughing so hard that he could not tell where the noise was coming from!
What’s Happening?
The sound is traveling through the tubes, Your brain thinks the one on the right will be heard in the right ear, but it is the opposite! It tricks your mind and confuses you!
Sound Wave Experiment #2 The Ringing Fork on a String
For this simple sound wave experiment you just need a fork or a spoon tied onto a piece of yarn. Make sure the yarn is long enough to hang down from your ears to around your chest or stomach. Tie the fork right in the center of the piece of yarn or string.
Now, tuck the ends of the yarn into your ears and tap the fork on an object. You will hear a large gonging sound or a ringing in your ears! The funny thing about this is that nobody else hears it like you do. And everyone is shocked at how loud the sound is!
The Science Behind It:
When the fork hits another surface it will vibrate. These vibrations make the air around it move, too. These are sound waves! The vibrations, or sound waves, move up the string and allow your ears to hear it. Sound travels best through a solid object, no the air.
Sound Wave Experiment #3 Make a Cup and String Phone
This is a great classic experiment that’s been around as long as I can remember. But it is still so much fun to do with young kids! You need two plastic or paper cups and a long piece of string or yarn.
Poke a small hole in the bottom of each cup. Put the string through the holes and tie knots on the inside to keep the string in place. Do this with both cups.
Now pull the string tight- it needs to be tight for the phone to work and the sound waves to be able to travel through the string. On person puts the phone to his or her ear and the other to their mouth. Whisper or talk quietly into the cup and the other person will hear the sound of your voice in the cup!
My kids like to make two to use at once, then they can both talk and listen without switching the cups back and forth.
When we talk, our vocal cords vibrate beginning the motion of the sound waves. Our ears have tiny hairs inside that pick up those sound wave vibrations and send them to our brain to translate. When you talk through the phone, the string carries those waves from one cup to the other allowing us to hear each other!
Experiment #4 Make a Buzzing Bug Noisemaker
This is a fun experiment! You can find all of the instructions to make it here: Sound Experiment: Buzzing Bug Noisemaker Toy
This buzzing bug noisemaker simulates the sound of insect wings that bus when they fly. It’s simple to make and kids love playing with them! You just spin them around and listen to them buzz.
Sound Wave Experiment #5 Seeing Sound Waves~ Dancing Sugar
This is an easy experiment to put together and a great visual for seeing how sound waves work!
Put a phone in a glass. Turn on some loud music with a lot of great bass. Cover the glass with plastic wrap and sprinkle some grains of sugar on top of the plastic wrap. You will be able to see the sugar dance! It is really cool.
Now explain to the kids how this works! The vibrations from the sound waves are making the sugar move.
Expand this lesson on ears and sound by reading The Ear Book by Al Perkins with your kids. It’s such a fun one!
Want more sensory activities for the 5 senses? Check these ones out:
- Try this Guess the Spice Activity for the sense of smell.
- Try this Tapioca Pearl Sensory Play activity for the sense of touch.
- Try a Cake Chemistry Experiment for the sense of taste.
- Try Color Mixing with Light for the sense of sight.
- Five Senses Activities for Kids
Former school teacher turned homeschool mom of 4 kids. Loves creating awesome hands-on creative learning ideas to make learning engaging and memorable for all kids!
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Sound Experiment for Kids to See Sound
I love science! There are so many hands-on science experiments you can do with kids! Right now we are learning all about sound in our classroom. I have personally found that having a sound experiment for kids to demonstrate what they are learning is the best way for children to really understand the material.
So, I came up with a few sound experiments for kids, including my favourite tuning fork sound experiment and vibrating rice.
Keep reading for a few simple, hands-on ways to making learning about sound fun and meaningful.
The experiments work well in the classroom or at home.
Introducing big, but important concepts, such as sound and hearing, to young children may seem early; however, I am always amazed by how much children of all ages learn from hands-on science experiments.
When children are interested in a topic, they absorb and understand a lot of the material.
Slinky Sound Experiments
Kids are naturally drawn to do experiments and play and explore with their hands. I like to do this sound experiment with kids as a way to introduce big science concepts to young minds.
I have done this experiment with kids aged 3-10 and it is a hit with all of them. All you need is a slinky. A large one works best, but any size will work.
Sound Experiments Steps
I started by using a large slinky and having one child and I hold the ends on opposite sides of the carpet. I banged the slinky to send a wave to the other side. We talked about how sound travels in waves.
A big, fast wave equals a loud sound – like someone yelling. A small, slow sound wave may be someone humming. I either hummed or yelled as I banged the slinky to replicate how the volume and sound travels.
Sound Waves
Sound Experiment
The main idea you want to make clear is that sound travels in waves. Also, it is important that children know that sound waves are invisible.
The slinky is just a fun way to show what we can’t otherwise see.
Some students even noticed the slinky bounce back after reaching the student holding the other end of the slinky. This was a great chance to discuss echoes and how sound bounces.
Fork a Sound Experiments
This is perhaps my favorite sound experiment for kids! I love the excitement that it causes and the ‘explosive’ result. Also, kids of all ages are able to get hands-on and do the experiment. You only need a few materials:
- Plastic Wrap
- Uncooked rice or Large Sparkles (I added some food coloring to mine, but the color is just for fun.)
- Tuning Forks
Since I did this experiment with several groups, I had several containers ready to go. I grouped Children into groups. The smaller the groups the better.
Cover each container tightly with plastic wrap. The wrap has to be tight or the experiment will not work.
To start, I introduced the children to tuning forks. Many had not used or seen one before. Some recognized the fork being used in their music class before.
I gently banged one of the forks onto the carpet and held it up. We could hear a bit of a sound coming from the fork.
I had a child beside me gently touch the fork. They were able to feel that it was vibrating, but as soon as they touched the tuning fork the vibrations stopped.
We talked about the fact that when it was vibrating, it was making a sound. When it stopped vibrating, the sound also stopped.
Children then each had a chance to gently try out the tuning forks. They loved the hands-on experience. (I would suggest making sure to tell children not to hit the tuning forks too hard. Just a bit of a bump will work. Also make sure they are not banging it on anything that could break.)
Next, children went to the tables with a small group. Each group got a container with the plastic wrap stretched across it. I then gave each group a small container of rice. You only need a small amount for each group.
Also, the more rice you give each group the more clean up there will be. The rice will go flying!!! (But that’s also the fun of the experiment.)
Children then pour the rice onto the plastic wrap. They make a guess what will happen once they touch the tuning fork to the plastic wrap.
Once they have guessed, they are ready to do the experiment.
When banged, the tuning fork vibrates, which creates a sound. Tap the fork so that it is making a sound, and vibrating.
Next, touch the vibrating fork to the plastic wrap, but be sure not to touch the side of the bowl. You only need to touch it gently to get the result.
As soon as the vibrating fork touches the plastic wrap, it sends vibrations across the wrap and to where the rice is sitting. These vibrations cause the rice to “jump” until the vibrations/sound stops.
The tuning forks are ideal to have on hand when teaching or learning about sound.
There was so much excitement in the room when the rice started bouncing everywhere! The mess is definitely worth the learning that occurred! Since the materials you need are so simple, you can repeat this tuning fork experiment several times.
I really wanted each child to be able to do the hands-on experiment. After each child got the rice to jump, the group worked together to gather the rice and put it back on the plastic wrap for the next child’s turn.
Repeat as many time as you wish!
Sound Experiments Extension Activity
The tuning fork experiment sparked so much interest in my classroom that I wanted to extend our activity for another science lesson. If you have all of the materials for the fork a sound experiment, all you need extra to do another experiment is water!
As an extension, you can remove the plastic wrap and fill the glass bowls with water. I also added a few drops of food coloring just for fun.
Repeat the experiment above by banging the tuning fork and then touch it to the container with water. Make sure to only touch the water, and not the container.
When the fork is touched to the water it makes the water splash out of the bowl. This sound experiment is an easy way to show kids that sound causes vibrations/movement. Happy experimenting!
For your convenience, this post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases and I may earn a small commission at no cost to you.
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The Science of Waves: Awesome Sound Experiment for Kids
By: Author Jacquie Fisher
Posted on Published: April 16, 2019
Categories Kids Activities & Crafts , Science Experiments
One of the coolest sound wave experiments your kids will ever try!
We love doing simple science experiments and every once in a while, we find a GEM.
It’s a simple, easy and pretty awesome experiment that explores the science of sound waves and how they travel .
Sound Experiment for Kids
So many of the science activities we do are ones that I’ve experienced before but are new to our kids.
And honestly, as they approach Middle School age, it’s getting harder and harder to impress them 😉
But THIS ONE!
This is one of those really cool experiments that they thought was super cool and even I was impressed with ( and as my husband will tell you, I’m not easily impressed 😉
I should have titled this “ Make Your Own Gong Using a Spoon and Fork ” — because that’s exactly what you’ll get to do!
Like our How does a Leaf Breathe? experiment , this sound wave project also explores the invisible side of science.
As you begin this vibration experiment, explain to your kids that you are going to test how sound travels.
They may not realize that when a ‘noise’ is made, it creates sound waves (which are not visible) that travel through the air and to our ears.
As with any of our experiments, we always start with a good book to help explain the science concepts!
Books about the Science of Sound Waves
Here are a few great books to pair with this activity along with affiliate links so you can easily learn more about each one:
Sounds All Around (Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science 1) is part of an amazing science book series that cover all the topics under the sun! This book explains how sound waves travel, how your ear receives sound and answers for more of the questions kids will ask.
And another fun book, What’s That Sound (Science Solves It! ) has facts & activities related to sound – perfect for kids ages 6 – 10 years old.
Sound Experiments for Kids
You’ll need a few items that I’m sure you can easily find around the house — the affiliate links in our list will give you a quick description of each item:
- A ruler (we found a wooden or heavy plastic ruler worked best)
- Two different size spoons (try using a teaspoon and a serving spoon )
- About 4 feet of string or yarn (this will depend on how tall you are as you can see below)
First, create a loop in the middle of the yarn/string and insert the handle of the spoon.
Pull tightly so that the spoon hangs in the center of the yarn/string and you have two long pieces of approximately equal length.
Then make a face at your Mom when she asks to take your photo ( this is an optional step, of course ) 🙂
Take each string and wrap them around your pointer finger on each hand.
Then push the string against each ear (not into the ear but just outside like you are going to plug your ears because you don’t want to hear your Mom ask you to do your chores 🙂
You’ll want the spoon to hang just below the waist once both ends of the yarn are placed near the ears.
You can see in this photo that you don’t have to use the end of each piece of yarn/string — in fact, as you do the experiment, change how high or low the spoon hangs to see if it changes the sound.
Ok, here’s the big moment …
Once the string in pushed against the ears, have someone GENTLY hit the ruler against the round part of the spoon — and watch the look on your child’s face (priceless!)
Warning : Kids often think that the HARDER they hit the spoon, the louder the sound — be sure to test out this theory too!
If you are using a small spoon, you should hear a distinct bell sound — with a larger spoon, it will sound more like a gong.
Pretty cool!
The Science Behind Sound Wave Experiments
Here’s what’s really happening during the activity — I’ve highlighted some of the science terms that you can introduce to kids when discussing this experiment:
When the ruler hits the spoon, it creates vibrations which make sound waves. These sound waves travel up the yarn/string and to the ear instead of just spreading out into the air around you.
The yarn acts as a conductor — an object that allows sound waves to travel.
Depending on the size of the spoon and the length of yarn, the sound will appear higher (like a church bell) or deeper (like a gong).
And because the yarn allows the sound waves to continue to travel, the sound of the spoon will resonate or reverberate — meaning they will continue for a while after you have hit the spoon.
Another thing we found was that the only one who can hear the bell or gong sound will be the person with the string near their ears — which we thought was also pretty cool.
Everyone else in the room will just hear a faint ‘tink’ when the ruler hits the spoon.
More Ideas for Sound Experiments
Ok, we wanted to play around with the experiment a little more — so we also used a serving fork (which is larger than a regular fork).
Do this too and you’ll see that the tines on the fork create a totally different sound.
You can also try different types of yarn/string — you’ll find that the more dense the string, the better the sound will travel.
For more sound wave experiments, try
- the Geeker Speaker Lab Kit which shows you how to make sound waves visible with 5 different experiments!
- the Science of Sound box from Steve Spangler includes up to 10 sound experiments kids can do !
And don’t forget to see all of our simple science experiments!
If you’re looking for more ideas that explore sound waves, try these items:
More Human Body Science Experiments
Fingerprint Science for Kids
How Long are Your Small Intestines?
Looking for more Easy Science Experiments? Try these!
How do Leaves Breathe?
How much Water is in Snow?
Does Your Food Sink or Float?
27 Simple Science Experiments
You might also like:
20 Science Experiments in a Jar
Top 10 Sound Experiments: Fun & Easy
Sound, an intrinsic part of our lives, is more than just a medium for communication and entertainment. It is a fascinating scientific concept, offering insights into how energy travels and interacts with our environment.
This carefully curated selection is designed for learners of all ages, covering fascinating topics like vibration, sound waves, pitch, and resonance. These hands-on, educational experiments will not only amplify your understanding of the science of sound but also strike a chord with your innate curiosity.
We hope you enjoy this compilation of sound experiments and that it inspires you to continue exploring the wonders of science.
1. How to See Sound Experiment
The How to See Sound experiment is a fascinating way to explore the relationship between sound waves and visual patterns.
The How to See Sound experiment is a fun and insightful experience that is likely to pique your interest, whether you’re a scientific enthusiast, an artist, or just someone who enjoys discovering the wonders of the world around you.
2. Glass Bottle Xylophone
Seeking an innovative and entertaining technique to learn more about the science of sound? With the help of the Glass Bottle Xylophone experiment, students can build their own musical instrument and learn about the fundamentals of sound.
3. Singing Spoons
Do you want to learn more about the science of sound in a playful and imaginative way? Using just a few spoons, the Singing Spoons experiment is a fascinating and fun project that you should try.
4. Make a Straw Oboe
Make your own musical instrument by cutting a straw to a specific length and blowing across the top to create different notes. Experiment with different straw lengths to produce different pitches.
5. Create a Thunder Drum!
Creating a thunder drum is a unique and exciting way to explore the properties of sound and can help students understand these concepts in a more tangible way.
6. Musical Wine Glasses
The musical wine glass experiment is a fun and easy way to explore the science of sound and create your own musical instrument. By filling wine glasses with different amounts of water and tapping them with a spoon, you can produce a range of musical notes and create your own melodies.
7. Tuning Fork Resonance Experiment
The tuning fork experiment is an established representation of how resonance and frequency work in the study of sound.
Students can see and measure the effects of resonance and frequency in this experiment by experimenting with various objects and tuning forks of different frequencies.
A hands-on introduction to the fundamental concepts of sound and waves is provided by this simple yet interesting experiment.
8. The Doppler Effect with Sound
Through the use of sound waves generated by a moving sound source, students can investigate the Doppler effect in this experiment.
Students can learn about the Doppler effect and its use in disciplines like astronomy and radar technology through this exercise in an useful and fascinating way.
9. Soundproofing Experiment
Students can learn about the science of soundproofing and its importance in building pleasant and effective surroundings through this project, which is a practical and hands-on learning experience.
10. Standing Waves
With the help of this experiment, students can learn about the fundamentals of wave interference and resonance as well as how these ideas are used in real-world situations.
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NOTIFICATIONS
Sound – visualising sound waves.
- + Create new collection
Sound is a form of energy that is caused by the vibration of matter. Sound is transmitted through waves, which travel through solids, liquids and gases. We are most used to the sound travelling through air, but sound is able to travel faster and further in solids and liquids .
‘Seeing’ sound
If we could see the molecules that make up the air around us, we would see sound as a series of more and less dense areas of air that are moving away from the source of the sound at about 340 metres per second. We say sound is a wave because the air molecules move back and forth while the sound travels along. The air behaves much like a longitudinal or compression wave on a spring.
It is difficult to draw compression waves , so waves are generally represented as transverse waves for simplicity. The dense areas of the compression wave are the peaks of the transverse wave and the sparse areas are the troughs.
Microphone – transforming sound energy into electrical energy
In order to visualise a sound wave, we can use a microphone to transform sound energy into electrical energy. A simple microphone is made up of a very thin membrane with a coil of very fine wire attached. A magnet is positioned so that it is just inside the coil of wire but not touching it. When a sound wave strikes the membrane , it jiggles (vibrates) back and forth because of the high and low pressure areas of the wave. This causes the coil to jiggle, and when a coil moves in a magnetic field, an electrical current is produced. If we look at the electrical current using an oscilloscope, we can see the sound as a series of peaks and troughs.
The sound from single pitch or note will make a simple sine wave on the screen. The wave will change as you change the volume or pitch of the note.
Related content
This article is part of an article series :
- Sound – understanding standing waves
- Sound – resonance
- Sound – wave interference
- Sound – beats, the Doppler effect and sonic booms
with the accompanying investigations:
- Measuring the speed of sound
- Investigating sound wave resonance
Additional articles and activity ideas
Find out more about studying sound under water and read about what is needed for sound to be heard , and how sound travels through water to understand some of the key science concepts.
Investigating waves and energy uses slinkies to explore longitudinal and transverse waves.
Make and use a hydrophone explains how to construct an underwater microphone.
Sound on an oscilloscope uses a computer’s microphone to create a visual display.
The PLD article Physical World – Sound curates Hub resources for the early years through to year 10.
Visit the sound topic for additional resources.
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Sound Wave Lab
Developed by Trish Loeblein
Students use the “ Sound ” simulation from the PhET Interactive Simulations to understand how different sounds are modeled, described and produced. They also design ways to determine the speed, frequency, period and wavelength of a sounds.
Science Topics
Parts of Waves Speed of Sound Frequency
Process Skills
Scientific Inquiry Observing Inferring Data Collection
Grade Level
Preparation.
5-10 minutes
50 minutes*
*If you are doing this with middle school students, it will take longer.
Learning Goals
Students will be able to:
- Explain how different sounds are modeled, described, and produced.
- Design ways to determine the speed, frequency, period, and wavelength of a sound wave model.
Sound Wave Lab Word Doc Sound Wave Lab PDF Sound Wave Lab Worksheet Word Doc Sound Wave Lab Worksheet PDF
Materials not in Kit
Computers with “ Sound ” simulator from PhEt Interactive Simulations (at least 1 computer for every 3 students)
Optional Materials
String Slinky
Set up the simulator on classroom computers by going to: https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/legacy/sound
Please review the Software Requirements before downloading.
Introduce the Activity
This simulation has been tested with students from grade school to college, and the interface has been intuitive for all students tested. We have observed that too much instruction on the simulation creates a barrier between the students and the simulation.
Doing the Activity
If you would like, use the slinky and rope to review longitudinal and transverse waves.
- Discuss how waves on a string are generated and how energy moves through the string.
- Ask a student to help you by holding the end of the slinky and demonstrate how energy travels from you to the student via the wave on the slinky.
Show the students how the simulator is modeling compression and rarefaction with dark and light colors.
NOTE: Some people think black represents emptiness and light represents more intensity, and some people think the inverse is true. Have students investigate using the first tab, to see that when the speaker is going out, the sound wave looks light. This can be a little tricky to observe, but using low frequency helps. Then go to the last tab and evacuate the chamber, it will make sense that the color goes black like space. Ask the students to determine what is being represented and they should choose black for low density.
Pass out the lab worksheet. Students should work individually or is groups of 2 or 3 to answer the questions.
- When the worksheet asks students for citation, you should just be looking for the source of their information is fine. This is usually a website or from a textbook. It’s good to get students into the habit of being able to back up their facts.
- The last questions about ultra-sound are designed to get students thinking about the size of ultra-sound waves compared to audible sounds.
Key Lesson Terminology
Compression – The region of the wave where air particles are compressed together.
Rarefaction – The region of the wave where air particles are spread apart.
Frequency – Wiggles per second (moves back and forth)
Amplitude – For transverse waves, it is the maximum height of the wave. Larger amplitudes create louder sounds.
Period – The time it takes for one wave to go by.
Wavelength – The distance between two successive, identical parts of the wave. Ex. Crest to crest, or trough to trough.
Optional Extensions
The Anatomy of a Wave (middle school & high school) is good to continue working on the basic properties of transverse and longitudinal waves, including resonance.
Create a wave on a string in the classroom by using a long string/slinky or rope. It should be possible to change the amplitude, frequency and tension while oscillating the string/slinky/rope. It is difficult to change damping, however.
Earthquakes – after this, lesson students are more ready to learn about Primary and Secondary seismic waves and how they travel through the earth. The idea that depending on the part so the earth the wave travels through, it may arrive at a location at a different time.
Modifications
The PhET website can be viewed in many languages, and learners can experiences the simulations in their native language to help them fully understand the material being presented.
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How can you see sound? Music science for kids
March 9, 2017 By Emma Vanstone 2 Comments
These fun music science experiments for kids are all about making sounds, how we hear sounds, pitch and music! Set up a speaker, a drum, and rice first to see sound in action, then make a drum, rainstick, guitar and lots more easy music science activities .
How are sounds made?
Did you know sounds are made when an object vibrates ? These vibrations make the air around an object vibrate. When the air vibrations reach the ear, they shake tiny hairs connected to nerves. These nerves send a message to the brain, telling it that a noise has been heard.
Music Science Experiments for Kids
This activity lets children see the effect of sound vibrations.
How to see sound vibrations
What you need to see sound
- Thin metal baking sheet
- Tape or elastic bands
Instructions
Stretch the cling film over the top of your bowl and secure it with tape or an elastic band.
Sprinkle a handful of rice over the cling film.
Hold the drum close to the bowl and beat it hard; the rice should jump.
Investigate how the jumping of the rice changes depending on how hard you hit the drum.
Repeat the investigation using a speaker instead of the drum. Is it different?
Things to think about
What would happen if you moved the drum further away from the rice bowl?
What do you think would happen if you made a very quiet noise with the drum?
Does changing the pitch of the music affect how the rice jumps?
Why does this happen?
The clingfilm stretched over the bowl is similar to your ear drum. Sound vibrations from the drum travel through the air to the cling film, making it vibrate, which makes the rice jump!
What is the pitch of a sound?
The pitch of a sound is how high or low it is.
What is the volume of a sound?
The volume of a sound is how loud it is.
Strong vibrations produce loud sounds, and weak vibrations produce quiet sounds.
More Music Science for Kids
Tin can drum.
Try making tin can drums . These are just a tin can with a balloon stretched tightly over the top and wrapped in gaffer tape.
Try putting different things inside to see how that changes the sound, or try beaters made from different materials.
The tighter the balloon on the drum is stretched, the higher the pitch of the sound .
Straw flute
Simply cut different sized straws and sellotape them together. Gently blow over the top of each to make a sound. Investigate how the length of the straw changes the sound.
Full straw flute instructions .
Music Crafts and Activities for Kids
Frugal Fun for Boys puts a small speaker inside the bowl, stretches a balloon over the top and adds salt so children can see the sound.
We love this homemade rainstick from The Imagination Tree too.
Try our sound absorption and reflection activities .
The Educators Spin on It has some great music ideas for summer .
We love these paper plate tambourines from Creative Family Fun. Do you think a plastic plate would make a different noise?
For musical ideas for younger children, try these musical activities for tots over on Rainy Day Mum.
Red Ted Art has some beautiful musical crafts to make too!
Last Updated on January 16, 2023 by Emma Vanstone
Safety Notice
Science Sparks ( Wild Sparks Enterprises Ltd ) are not liable for the actions of activity of any person who uses the information in this resource or in any of the suggested further resources. Science Sparks assume no liability with regard to injuries or damage to property that may occur as a result of using the information and carrying out the practical activities contained in this resource or in any of the suggested further resources.
These activities are designed to be carried out by children working with a parent, guardian or other appropriate adult. The adult involved is fully responsible for ensuring that the activities are carried out safely.
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- 2 identical glasses
- pitcher of water or a glass measuring cup
- 1 thin piece of wire (1/2" longer than the diameter of the glasses)
- Fill the pitcher or measuring cup with water.
- Pour equal amounts of water into each glass.
- Bend down the edges of the wire ends carefully so there is 1/4 inch on either side to hold the wire in place.
- Place the wire across the top of one glass in the center.
- Gently rub around the rim of the other glass with the tip of your finger.
- Make observations. Focus on the actions of the glass with the wire on it.
- Experiment with different (equal) water levels in the glasses. What do you notice?
- Experiment with unequal water levels in the glasses.
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COMMENTS
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Instructions. Stretch the cling film over the top of your bowl and secure it with tape or an elastic band. Sprinkle a handful of rice over the cling film. Hold the drum close to the bowl and beat it hard; the rice should jump. Investigate how the jumping of the rice changes depending on how hard you hit the drum.
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