sound travel experiment ks2

7 Cool Sound Science Experiments for Kids

Nov. 19, 2018

When it comes to science experiments, some of the most enjoyable involve the science of sound. If you’re looking to dazzle your little learner with exciting new experiments, look no further than simple sound science experiments that use everyday household items to bring sound to life. Let’s explore 7 riveting ideas to discover the science behind sound! Watch educational videos with scientific experiments and show them to your child.

The Classic Paper Cup and String Phone

A much-loved childhood project, the paper cup phone is much more than a fun and old-fashioned way for kids to communicate throughout the house. This elementary sound science project shows kids how sound waves can travel through a string and be converted back to audible sound at the opposite end. 

Supplies Needed: 

• 2 paper cups
• Long string, like fishing line, kite string
• A sharp pencil or needle to poke holes in the cups

What to Do: 

1. Start by cutting a long piece of string of at least 50 feet. 

2. Poke a small hole at the bottom of each cup. 

3. Using each end of the string, thread it through the bottoms of the cups, tying a large knot so that the string does not fall out of the cup. If you make the holes too large, use a washer or paper clip to hold the string in place so that it does not pull out of the cup. 

4. Move into position and encourage your child to move away from you so that the string is far enough to make it tight. Be sure that the string does not touch any other object and that it remains suspended in air as you complete the experiment. 

5. Taking turns, talk into the cup, while the other person listens by putting the cup to their ear. Tell your child to repeat what he or she hears after you have spoken and do the same in return! 

After the experiment, explain to your child what is happening: sound waves created by talking through the cup travel through the line to the other end, converting back to sound on the opposite side! 

Make Music with a Straw Pan Flute

Perfect for younger children, the following sound waves experiment not only involves creating a fun musical instrument your child could play with, but teaches kids how length can affect the pitch of sound waves. 

Supplies Needed:  

• At least 9 or 10 straws, more if desired! 
• Clear gift wrap tape

1. Take the straws and line them up side-by-side and cut them at an angle at the top. 

2. Tape the straws together to make a pan flute. 

3. Instruct your child to blow through the straws. Which straws make higher and lower pitches? Why? 

Feel free to use more straws and experiment with different lengths to produce different pitches and sounds! Ask your child to explain what happens to the sound the shorter a straw is cut, and create double pan flutes to make harmonies to further explore how length alters the pitch. 

Listen to Sounds Travel Underwater

Sound travels well through air, but it travels even better through water! This easy sound experiment for kids can be done in a jiffy out on the back porch. 

• A bucket filled with water
• A large plastic water or soda bottle 
• At least 2 kitchen knives
• Scissors or sharp knife to cut the bottle

1. After filling the bucket with water, take a sharp knife or kitchen shears and help your child cut off the bottom of the plastic water bottle. Be sure that the cap is taken off of the bottle. 

2. Instruct your child to place the bottle in the water so that the cut bottom is in the water. Your child will then put his or her ear to the top of the bottle to listen. 

3. Using the kitchen knives, clang them together to make a sound, but do this in the bucket as your child is listening. What does your child hear? 

Your child has probably noted that the sound of the clanging is loud and clear. Water travels faster through water than in the air, and animals that live underwater are able to hear sound clearly. Discuss the results with your child, to teach him or her more about the conduction of sound waves through water. 

See the Sound

Sound vibrations travel through air, water, and even solid objects, but it’s not possible to see the waves. What if we could see the waves in another way? This science of sound experiment makes sound more visible by forcing objects to react to the sound vibrations. 

• Empty clear mixing bowl
• Plastic wrap
• Large rubber band
• Sugar crystals- Sugar in the Raw works great, or make sugar crystals in another science experiment!

1. Wrap a sheet of plastic wrap over the mixing bowl so that it’s taut, and secure with the large rubber band. Be sure that the plastic wrap is tight and does not sag. 

2. Place a few of the sugar crystals on the top of the plastic wrap, placing them in the middle of the wrap. 

3. Instruct your child to get close to the sugar crystal and say something loudly! What happens to the crystals? Do they move? 

4. Experiment with louder and softer words or sentences to watch the sugar crystals react to the sound vibrations! 

While your child might think it’s his or her breath making the crystals jump and move, but it’s actually the sound vibrations. Try different sounds besides ordinary speech and see how the crystals come to life!

Make a Stick Harmonica

Making musical instruments are easy and fun, and they teach kids about sound waves and pitch. This experiment is much like the pan flute above, but kids can alter the pitch by sliding the straws without reassembling the harmonica. 

• 2 large craft sticks
• 1 wide rubber band
• 2 smaller rubber bands 
• 1 plastic drinking straw

1. Using the scissors, cut the straw into 2 one-inch pieces and set aside. 

2. Take the wide rubber band and stretch it length-wise around one of the jumbo craft sticks and place one of the straw pieces under the rubber band, close to the edge on one end.

3. Take the other craft stick and place it directly on top of the craft stick with the rubber band. Secure them together at the ends using the small rubber bands. 

4. Finally, take the last piece of straw and place it in the harmonica between the sticks on the opposite end from the other, but this piece should be fit above the wide rubber band instead of below it. 

5. Encourage your child to play the harmonica by blowing in the center of the harmonica! Explore different pitches by moving the straw pieces!

After playing the harmonica, don’t forget to complete the sound experiment by talking about the mechanics of the harmonica. The vibrating rubber band makes all the noise, and the closer the straw pieces are to the center of the harmonica, the higher the pitch will be due to the shortened length of the band! 

Experimenting with Sound Waves

It might be hard to imagine that sound waves can travel through solid objects as well as through the air. This simple but exciting sound waves science activity will demonstrate for your child how sound can and does indeed travel through solid objects!

• Metal kitchen spoon- a large metal measuring spoon works great! 
• At least 30 inches of kite string

1. Stretch out the string and tie the handle of the spoon in the middle of the string.

2. Take one end of the string and tie around your child’s pointer finger. Do the same using the other end, but tie this string around the pointer finger of your child’s opposite hand. 

3. Instruct your child to put his or her fingers, with the string wrapped around each, into their ears. 

4. Help your child lean over so the spoon dangles and help him or her swing the spoon so it hits a nearby door or wall. 

5. Hit the door or wall again, but this time with more force. What does your child hear? 

Your child should hear a bell-like sound travel up the string from the spoon and into their ears. Discuss with your child how the sound waves created from the spoon hitting the door moves through the string until he or she is able to hear it!  

Xylophone Water Jars

Musical instruments are so much fun to make! This sound activity teaches children how varying levels of water in containers change the pitch of the sound created. 

• 4 empty and clean baby food jars 
• 4 different colors of food coloring

1. Help your child fill each jar with varying amounts of water. 

2. Add a few drops of food coloring to each jar. 

3. Using the mallet, instruct your child to firmly tap the outside of each jar. What sounds are being made? Which jars have the highest or lowest pitch? 

Encourage your child to hypothesize why some jars emit a lower sound, while others are higher. Play around with the water levels in each jar and experiment with pitch! 

Learn Science with Kids Academy Classroom!

Use this interactive Classroom by Kids Academy called Sound is All Around Us to teach first graders the basics of sound science. OPEN THE CLASSROOM . 

After clicking "Next", you'll find a set-up lesson with an educational video, accompanied by practice worksheets and summary quiz to help kids better understand and remember the learned material.

Equipped with our extensive learning resource library, Kids Academy Classroom allows teachers and parents to create lessons and share them with the young smarties in a couple of clicks. 

Go directly to the Classroom page and create a quick classroom on any topic you want! After students complete the lesson, you'll get access to a report about their performance. Check out our  Classroom Guide article  for more information!

Now that you have 7 cool ideas for exciting sound science experiments, it’s time to get started! Your child will love learning all about the science of sound and the endlessly fascinating ways sound waves can travel through air, water, and objects. Don’t forget to check out our science worksheets and activities to supplement your child’s learning in between all your child’s experiments!

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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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String Telephone Explanation: How Sound Waves Travel

Learn all about sound in this super-fun science twist on the classic tin can telephone activity. This version is even more kid-friendly because it uses Styrofoam cups. After making your string telephone, read the  string telephone explanation with your kids to discover why it works!

Learn how sound waves travel in this super-fun science twist on a classic kid’s activity!

You’ll need just a few things for this project:

• Styrofoam or paper cups
• Cotton twine

Use the scissors to poke a little hole in the bottom of each cup.

String a piece of twine between the cups. Use a long piece of string to help the sound travel farther.

Tie a knot in the end of the string to keep it in the cup.

Decorate the cups if desired.

One person can hold the phone up to their ear and the other person can talk into the other cup. Keep the string tight or the sound waves won’t travel correctly.

String Telephone Explanation

Sound waves are created when sounds make vibrations in the air. In this activity, your voice vibrates the air inside the cup, which are then transferred to the bottom of the cup. The bottom of the cup passes the sound waves to the string, and so on to the other cup. You can hear surprisingly far using a string telephone if help the right way!

If the string is kept tight, the sound waves will travel. If the string is loose, the sound is less. This is because the lose string causes the vibrations to travel all around rather than directly down the string. Try experimenting with different lengths of string, types of string, and types of cups to see which produces the best sound over the longest distance.

Old landline phones were created using the same principle as a string telephone. The sound waves are turned into an electrical signal that can travel much farther than a simple string.

What other sound activities can you try with your kids after doing this one?  Share your ideas with us!

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Year 4: Sound

This list consists of lesson plans, activities and video clips to support the teaching of sound at Year Four. It contains tips on using the resources, suggestions for further use and background subject knowledge. Possible misconceptions are highlighted so that teachers may plan lessons to facilitate correct conceptual understanding. Designed to support the new curriculum programme of study it aims to cover many of the requirements for knowledge and understanding and working scientifically. The statutory requirements are that children are taught to:

• identify how sounds are made, associating some of them with something vibrating • recognise that vibrations from sounds travel through a medium to the ear • find patterns between the pitch of a sound and features of the object that produced it • find patterns between the volume of a sound and the strength of the vibrations that produced it • recognise that sounds get fainter as the distance from the sound source increases.

Visit the primary science webpage to access all lists.

Sound: listen up

Quality Assured Category: Science Publisher: Hamilton Trust

Finding out what children already know establishes a basis for their continued learning. Session A aims to do this through a carousel of activities in which sound is produced. Identify how musical instruments make sounds, look at how the shape of an ear affects how we hear sounds and describe different sounds. In each case ask children what is vibrating to produce the sound.

Session B looks at how sounds are produced when objects vibrate but that vibrations are not always directly visible. Showing example where vibrations cannot be seen e.g. feeling the larynx as they speak, is important to illustrate this point.

Light is blocked by an opaque object and a shadow is formed but vibrations from sound sources require a medium (solid, liquid or gas) through which to travel. The activities in this session allow children to explore this.

Assembly on Sound

Quality Assured Category: Science Publisher: Association for Science Education (ASE)

Carrying out a class survey on sounds is a great way of working scientifically to find out about the world. Try out the ideas on page 4.

Another idea is to play some different sounds and talk about children's favourite sounds. Choose six then ask the class to vote on them and to create a living bar chart with children as the bars, showing which is the most popular. This could be repeated for the least favourite sound. This is a good way of representing data without having to write it down.

Linking to music - children could listen to various instruments and decide which ones they prefer. Discuss higher and lower pitch sounds and ask children in groups to explore the instruments and order them from low to high.

Quality Assured Category: Science Publisher: Institute of Physics

Slides 16,17,18 and 19 look at the various animals and the pitch of the sounds they produce, larger animals making lower pitched sounds and smaller ones higher pitched sounds. It then goes on to look at the size of various instruments. Children could look at a range of drums and predict the pitch of the sound they will produce. This could be repeated with other musical instruments.

A great way of showing this is by having a child blow through a straw and snipping it as they blow and hearing the change in pitch as the straw becomes shorter. An activity detailing this is described in the straw oboes activity below.

What factors affect the pitch and the volume of sound?

Quality Assured Category: Careers Publisher: Royal Society

This resource provides a set of videos and a practical investigation aimed at supporting working scientifically in the classroom and relating science to real world experiences. In the first video Professor Brian Cox joins a teacher to find out how to set up and run an investigation to find out what affects the pitch and volume of a sound. Children build instruments out of every day equipment, including elastic bands and pots, twanging rulers and beans in pots. They change the length and width of elastic bands and the length of the ruler to see what difference that makes to the sounds. Further videos show Brian Cox meeting a composer to find out how sound can be used to convey different emotions in films and a scientist using sound waves to levitate small objects.

Datalogging in the Environment

Quality Assured Category: Computing Publisher: Association for Science Education (ASE)

Page 9 contains two investigations on sound, the first explores how sound travels through different materials better than others. Children learn how to measure sound in decibels using a data logger. Take three readings each time and discuss the importance of repeated measurements for accuracy. Children could then look at the average value of their results, perhaps focussing on the median value at this age.

The second investigation looks at the materials which muffle sound the best. This provides an ideal opportunity for children to carry out a fair test.

Sound Survey

Quality Assured Category: Science Publisher: Jeans for Genes

Watch a short film about a child with Treacher Collins syndrome who has hearing difficulties and ask children to consider how the boy would feel in their school. Then ask children to come up with a set of survey questions to assess the noisiest places in school. Children work in small groups to survey the school and map their findings.

This is a great opportunity to consider how we are all different and develop an awareness of the needs of others. Remember that this topic may affect certain children in the class personally so should be adapted to suit individual class needs.

BBc Bitesize Sound

Animations, clips and guidance on all things relating to sound at Year 4.

Sounds Like Science

Quality Assured Category: Cross curricular Publisher: British Science Association

This pack contains twenty activities which explore the links between science and music. Activities investigate: how vibrations travel through different materials, making instrument on which the notes may be changed, creating animal noises using voices and instruments, muffling sound, amplifying sound, investigating rhythm and making a speaker.

Classroom Sound Monitor

Quality Assured Category: Computing Publisher: Barefoot Computing

This cross curricular activity includes science content from Year Four of the primary curriculum. It introduces programming and control, linked to the outside world through sensors - in this case, the computer's built-in microphone or a peripheral microphone.  Programs are written using Scratch (online or offline) after a short design activity. Links to physical computing devices, such as Lego WeDo, are highlighted. 

Music to the Ears: Designing and Creating a Sound Generator

Quality Assured Category: Design and technology Publisher: ENGINEER Project

In this design and technology project children design and make their own simple stringed instrument, so they can make a soundtrack for a movie clip. This enables them to learn and experience properties of sound and discover more about the work of sound engineers throughout the process. It provides a great way of allowing children to be creative and apply their scientific knowledge in a practical context.

Vibrations and solid materials

I can explain how sounds can travel through a solid medium to our ears.

Lesson details

Key learning points.

• Sound travels from an object through a medium to our ears.
• Vibrations can be heard when travelling through some solids, such as taut string and cups.
• Scientists use results to make simple conclusions and raise further questions.
• Vibrations travel through a solid medium more quickly. We can hear these sounds louder and more clearly.

Common misconception

Children often think that sounds will be quieter and more muffled when travelling through a solid medium.

It is important for children to try string telephones out for themselves to hear how sounds can be louder and clearer travelling through a solid medium.

Vibrations - Vibrations are when an object moves very fast from side to side.

Medium - Vibrations need a medium to travel, such as a solid, liquid or gas.

Solid - A solid is something that holds its shape and is not a liquid or a gas.

Taut - Taut means to be stretched firmly or tightly.

Conclusion - In a conclusion, scientists explain what the results show or mean.

String, scissors, cups with holes pre-cut.

Content guidance

• Risk assessment required - equipment
• Exploration of objects

Supervision

Adult supervision required

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited ( 2024 ), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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