Sound: How It Travels and What Affects Pitch and Volume
Explore vibrations, sound waves, pitch, and volume
Sound: How It Travels and What Affects Pitch and Volume
Explore vibrations, sound waves, pitch, and volume
Science - Grade 2-3
- 1
A drum makes a sound when you hit it. What is vibrating to make the sound?
Think about the part of the drum that moves after it is hit.
The drumhead is vibrating to make the sound. The vibrations move through the air to our ears. - 2
Sound can travel through air, water, and solids. Circle the material that sound travels through best: air, water, or a metal spoon.
Sound travels best through a metal spoon because solids often carry sound vibrations better than air or water. - 3
You hear a school bell from across the hallway. How did the sound get from the bell to your ears?
Sound moves away from its source in waves.
The bell made vibrations that traveled through the air as sound waves. The sound waves reached my ears so I could hear the bell. - 4
A guitar string is plucked softly. Then the same string is plucked harder. What changes about the sound?
The sound gets louder when the string is plucked harder. A stronger vibration makes a greater volume. - 5
A tiny bell and a large gong are struck. Which one will probably make a higher pitch, and why?
Faster vibrations usually make higher sounds.
The tiny bell will probably make a higher pitch because smaller objects often vibrate faster than larger objects. - 6
Fill in the blank: Sound begins with something that is __________.
Sound begins with something that is vibrating. Vibrations are quick back-and-forth movements. - 7
Mia puts her ear on a wooden table while her friend gently taps the other end. She hears the tapping clearly. Why does this happen?
A table is a solid object.
This happens because sound vibrations can travel through the solid wood of the table to Mia's ear. - 8
Two rubber bands are stretched over a box. One rubber band is tight and one is loose. Which rubber band will likely make the higher pitch when plucked?
The tight rubber band will likely make the higher pitch because tighter bands vibrate faster. - 9
Sam whispers and then shouts the same word. What sound property changes: pitch or volume?
Volume tells how loud or soft a sound is.
The volume changes because a shout is louder than a whisper. The pitch may stay about the same. - 10
A bird chirps with a high pitch. A cow moos with a low pitch. Which animal's sound has faster vibrations?
The bird's chirp has faster vibrations because high-pitched sounds are made by faster vibrations. - 11
Look at two sound waves. Wave A has tall waves. Wave B has short waves. Which wave shows the louder sound?
Tall waves show more energy.
Wave A shows the louder sound because taller waves mean a larger vibration and greater volume. - 12
Why can you not hear sounds from space the same way you hear sounds on Earth?
Sound needs something to move through.
You cannot hear sounds in empty space because sound needs matter, such as air, water, or a solid, to travel. - 13
A student fills one glass with a little water and another glass with more water. When tapped, the glasses make different pitches. What changed that affected the pitch?
The amount of water changed, so the glasses vibrated differently. Different vibrations made different pitches. - 14
Name one way to make a sound softer and one way to make a sound louder.
Think about how hard you make the object vibrate.
A sound can be made softer by tapping gently or moving farther away. A sound can be made louder by tapping harder or moving closer. - 15
Lena covers a ringing alarm clock with a thick blanket. The sound becomes quieter. Why does the blanket make the sound quieter?
The blanket makes the sound quieter because it absorbs or blocks some of the sound vibrations before they reach Lena's ears.