What factors affect the pitch and the volume of sound?

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. An accompanying written resource, provided by the Ogden Trust, guides teachers on how to run a sound investigation in class.

This resource has been provided by the Royal Society.

You may also be interested in our online, self-paced course Teaching primary science: electricity, forces, light and sound.

Sound set up video

Sound experiment video

Real world sound: composer

Sound: levitation video