Explorify at home: Sound
This collection is all about sound. Sounds are made when something vibrates. We hear sounds because the vibrations travel to our ears.
Explorify at home is a series of science activities for parents and carers of primary school children who are learning at home. We define activities by age and curriculum topics in Explorify, but these collections are also suitable to do all together as a family of mixed aged children. Or if your little scientist just wants to explore further, pick something from the other age sections for inspiration.
For children aged 5 to 7
Hidden depths
First, take a close-up look: open up this Zoom In Zoom Out activity, 'Hidden depths'. Look at the first picture for clues and wonder what it might be; any idea is fine if children can say why, as there isn’t always just one right answer in science. Use the magnifying glass icon to zoom out and reveal more clues; talk about what you see.
Hands-on activity: Did you realise you were looking at a human ear? Sound waves travel through the air to our ear drum causing it to vibrate. These vibrations are then transmitted to tiny bones and fluid in our inner ear. The movement of this fluid stimulates nerve endings which carry messages to our brains that are interpreted as sound.
How do our ears differ from other the ears of other animals your children know about? What difference does moving our heads make to what we can hear? Can we tell which direction a sound has come from, by listening?
For children aged 7 to 9
Bottle orchestra
First, watch this video: Making musical instruments can be a lot of fun. The sounds heard in this bottle orchestra come from the glass and liquid vibrating. Blowing gently over the top of the bottles will produce a more consistent sound, but you’ll get the lower pitch notes when there is less water in the bottles because it’s the air vibrating that makes the note.
Hands-on activity: You could try to create your own bottle or tin can orchestra (adults please supervise this!).
For children aged 9 to 11
Protect your ears
Hands-on activity: Sound travels through different materials but sometimes we want to block out sound to protect our ears. Can you design and make a set of noise blocking ear muffs using recycled packaging and scraps of material (such as old clothes)? Which materials are most useful? Remember you need to think about comfort as well as the properties of materials.
