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Students explore how sound moves and is made with different activities. Students can connect two paper cups to a string to learn how sounds travel. Students can also make a straw flute to explore how different lengths effect sounds. Art- creating instruments. Science- exploring sounds and sound movement. Math- measuring how long the sound is traveling. Engineering- designing and constructing instrument or cup phone.

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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

Scissors

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!

Scissors

Clear gift wrap tape

What to Do:

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.

Supplies Needed:

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

What to Do:

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.

Supplies Needed:

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!

What to Do:

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.

Supplies Needed:

2 large craft sticks

1 wide rubber band

2 smaller rubber bands

1 plastic drinking straw

Scissors

What to Do:

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!

Supplies Needed:

Metal kitchen spoon- a large metal measuring spoon works great!

At least 30 inches of kite string

What to Do:

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.

Supplies Needed:

4 empty and clean baby food jars

4 different colors of food coloring

Water

Mallet

What to Do:

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!

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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7 Cool Sound Science Experiments for Kids | Article

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Learning about sound is endlessly fascinating, but can be tricky for little learners to grasp. Encourage your child to explore the exciting science of sound using simple and practical hands-on activities. This article shares 7 cool sound science experiments your child will love!

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Students can explore different types of energy by making waves with their arms, rubbing hands together for friction, and bouncing against walls. This all uses movement to help students explore types of energy, force, and motion. Students will use science and technology when using videos and music on computers for movement.

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When classroom resources are limited because of the pandemic, students still have access to helpful learning materials-their bodies.

Highwaystarz-Photography / iStock

Prior to Covid-19, science teachers had many opportunities to immerse students in hands-on learning, utilizing facilities and materials provided by their schools. While virtual learning was challenging for science labs, instruction is now hybridized or back in the classroom with restrictions. It is important to find ways for students to be hands-on and visualize their learning. New safety regulations limit the ways in which students can interact with materials, each other, and even the educator in the classroom. This leaves educators questioning how they can still provide opportunities for students to model their learning, or experience a concept, with few or no materials.

Students Learn Science Concepts Through Movement

After teaching middle school students from home for exactly one year, I realized that the only material I could count on all my students to have consistently was their physical body. To make the lesson stick, I had to find ways that students could use their own bodies to model movements, test phenomena, and engage with the curriculum. Requiring my students to move throughout the lesson also encouraged them to have their webcams on, boosted their engagement in the virtual world, and gave me another way to keep track of which students were keeping up with the learning outcomes.

While some students may shy away at first, seeing their peers take risks will promote their engagement. Alternatively, students who feel uncomfortable with physical participation can check off other students' demonstrations to ensure that they also know what the exemplar looks like. After participating in these human labs, my students continued to utilize the movements and reference the activities, which showed how they connected the concepts to them permanently. Their formative assessment scores also increased once I began to implement these hands-on opportunities.

I have identified topics across the middle grades science curriculum that allow students and teachers to demonstrate learning with their bodies. The following lab strategies can be continually utilized virtually or in the classroom to help students gain even deeper understanding of the concepts once materials are available.

1. Matter. Everything in the world is made from matter. This overarching topic spans through all the middle grades, and students are expected to know how particles of matter move around. Students can model and practice the concept of particle movement with their bodies. Give them directions to act like solids, liquids, or gases. Switch it up as in Simon Says until all students have sped up, slowed down, or vibrated in order to represent how matter moves.

Another way to get students involved with matter is by asking them to choose a body part and then describe all of its characteristics. This list could then be used as an outline to show how scientists assign properties to matter.

2. Force and motion. Force and motion are also widely covered in the middle grades. I found that I could have my students demonstrate Newton's laws of gravity, acceleration, friction, and more. Engaging my students in live experimentation allowed them to demonstrate their knowledge of friction, resistance, and mass by running an obstacle course around the house (this could also be done in the classroom) with and without socks on, keeping time to identify the change in speed. To identify Newton's third law of motion, students can bounce against the walls to show the equal and opposite reaction.

3. Energy. Students can demonstrate the transfer of energy through waves by making them with their arms. The more energy they apply, the higher the amplitude. This is a great activity to show frequency, wavelength, and parts of a wave.

Bring back a classic childhood experiment for students who are learning about thermal energy. Have students rub their hands together as fast as possible for an allotted amount of time. They will instantly understand the relationship between friction and heat.

For minimal additional material use, you can also show water as a good conductor of heat by filling a balloon with water and then holding it over a flame. Your students will be amazed at how the balloon will not pop.

4. Biological evolution. It can be difficult to get students to connect with Darwin's theory of evolution and how natural selection plays a role in it. Your students can mirror the wild adaptations of some organisms by altering what they already have as humans. Have them bend their limbs to shorten them, close their eyes to simulate a lack of day vision, or clench their hands as hooves. Then, ask them to connect adaptations and their benefits for a particular species.

On a related note, your students can also easily model the food chain. Place images of different organisms around the room and have them go on a hunt for the organisms that they consume-keeping the food chain in motion. For an added challenge, you can assign several students to be the same organism and then ask them to predict what could or will now go wrong in the ecosystem.

5. Earth systems. Gravity keeps the universe expanding, and it's also responsible for the Earth's formations slowly moving farther apart. Students can model this by closing their fist and slowly opening it, as gravity pulls matter away from the source of energy.

Convection currents drive movement in the mantle. To show this, have students lock their fingers, forming an arm circle. Then, ask them to apply force to pull their arms apart, causing the boundaries to crack.

Plate tectonics are also easy to model. Students can hold both of their arms horizontally as their "plates" and then model convergent, divergent, and transform boundary movements. As they visualize mountains, faults, and trenches using their plates, the Earth's crust and boundaries will make more sense to them.

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5 Ways to Explore Science Concepts Through Movement

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When classroom resources are limited because of the pandemic, students still have access to helpful learning materials-their bodies. Highwaystarz-Photography / iStock Prior to Covid-19, science teachers had many opportunities to immerse students in hands-on learning, utilizing facilities and materials provided by their schools.

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Students act out the states of matter; solid, liquid, and gas. This movement activity teaches students the state of matter while getting students moving. Art- movement to go with each state of matter. Science- the 3 different states of matter. Technology- videos for students to watch relating to the states of matter.

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States of matter: acting them out | ingridscience.ca

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Explore the plant life cycle and what plants need to survive through music and movement. Art- the music and dance that students sing and do with the video. Technology- watching the video on a smart board. Science- the plant life cycle and plant needs.

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Roots, Stem, Leaves, Flower | Parts of a Plant Song | Parts of a Flower Song

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Making a thunderstorm explores music, movement, and science. Art is the music and movement that students create. Science is the thunderstorm and the sounds of a thunderstorm.

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Spring is here and with that comes the beautiful power of a rainstorm. I love a good rainstorm as it washes away the dirt, and leaves behind beauty, green, and a fresh start.

I love to create a thunderstorm with my students in my yoga class toward the end of class. The perfect time to do this is during the Community Building portion of the class which is right before settling into Savasana. If you are unsure of the correct sequence and important parts of a kids yoga lesson plan, then please check out our bestselling book, Go Go Yoga for Kids: A Complete Guide to Yoga with Kids. It breaks down the complete step by step to put together an engaging and memorable kids yoga class.

Creating a thunderstorm with kids completely quiets the class, mesmerizes them and they feel empowered as they are the ones that created it. This activity also utilizes many of your five senses which is wonderful in helping you feel aware and present.

How to Create a Thunderstorm:

Sit in a close circle with the lights off. Start with step one and the child on your right does what you are doing. Continue around the circle with each student adding to it. After the sound has made it around, continue onto step 2. I like this progression as it shows how the storm ebbs and flows.

1. Snap your fingers (the sound of light rain falling)

2. Clap your hands together

3. Slap your hands on your legs (at this time a student can flick a light switch on and off to represent lightning). They love this part!

4. Stomp your feet

5. Slap your hands on your legs and stomp your feet (this represents the strength of the storm lessening)

6. Stomp your feet

7. Slap your hands on your legs

8. Clap your hands together

9. Snap your fingers

10. Rub your hands together (the wind)

11. Open your palms (all is quiet)

This is definitely a fun activity to do with a Kids Yoga Springtime or a Jungle Adventure Theme. Have fun with it. This is something that your kids yoga classes can do over and over again and still be amazed by it.

To learn more engaging activities and savasana secrets check out our Kids Yoga & Mindfulness Teacher Traini ng.

You May Also Like:
Springtime Kids Yoga Sequence Easter Egg Yoga Lesson Plan Spring Kids Yoga Video

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How to Create Your Own Thunderstorm With Kids

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Spring is here and with that comes the beautiful power of a rainstorm. I love a good rainstorm as it washes away the dirt, and leaves behind beauty, green, and a fresh start. I love to create a thunderstorm with my students in my yoga class toward the end of class.

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Students making slime explores the subjects science, math, literacy, and art. Science is mixing the ingredients together to make the slime (chemical reaction). Math is measuring ingredients. Literacy is reading recipe and directions, and writing recipe and directions. Arts- is making things with the slime and making slime a different color other than white. Engineering is the construction or creation of the slime.

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"Slime" refers to a range of substances that you can buy or make yourself, like Gak™ or Silly Putty®. While their individual properties might vary slightly, in general, these substances are stretchy, gooey, sticky, or rubbery. Sometimes they might seem to behave like a solid; other times they might seem to behave more like a liquid.

Many slime recipes use glue and borax as the main ingredients. Glue is made of long, chain-shaped molecules called polymers. These molecules can easily slide over and around each other, kind of like the pasta in a pot of fresh-cooked spaghetti. This makes the glue very runny, which is why you can easily squeeze it out of a bottle. When mixed with borax*, the borate ions from the borax form weak bonds between the polymer chains in a process called crosslinking (Figure 1). This makes it more difficult for the polymer chains to slide around, making the glue less runny and more rubbery, forming slime. This reaction** results in an observable change in properties, as two different substances are combined to make a new substance with different properties. You can also add other ingredients to your slime to give it additional properties. For example, you can use iron filings to make magnetic slime.

Given the range of available recipes and ingredients for slime, your students have a lot of choices if they want to make their own slime. In this project, they will think like chemical engineers and design their own slime. First, they will need to decide what properties they want their slime to have. What color should it be? Should it be runnier or thicker? Fluffy? Magnetic? Glow in the dark? Then, they will need to do some background research and experiment to find out what recipe gives them their desired properties.

* In this lesson plan, we recommend that you use contact lens solution to make slime. It contains other ingredients (boric acid and sodium borate) that cause a similar chemical reaction, but it is safer to handle than borax, which can cause skin irritation with excessive use.

** At this level, we do not make the distinction between chemical and physical reactions. It is not always possible to determine which is which using easily observable properties like color or texture changes.

Prep Work (15 minutes)

Engage (15 minutes)

Explore (90 minutes)

Reflect (15 minutes)

Assess

Make Career Connections

Lesson Plan Variations

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Slime Shop: Engineer Your Own Slime | Lesson Plan

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"Slime" refers to a range of substances that you can buy or make yourself, like Gak™ or Silly Putty®. While their individual properties might vary slightly, in general, these substances are stretchy, gooey, sticky, or rubbery. Sometimes they might seem to behave like a solid; other times they might seem to behave more like a liquid.

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Engineering and Designing their own kite and trying to fly it is a fun and engaging activity for students to learn and practice engineering and design. Students are using art to design and construct kites . Students can learn social studies by learning history of kites and appropriate weather for kites, and why people fly kites. Students are using science when building and trying to make kites fly. Students are using math when designing kites because they need to measure and use shapes.

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A good breeze and a few materials are all you need to tackle this DIY Kite STEM project at home, with a group or in the classroom! Take our simple kite design and make it your own, or just grab the funny pages from your local newspaper! You can fly a kite just about any time of the year but this makes a great outdoor STEM project for spring or summer! Fun for camp or scouting groups too!

Make A Homemade Kite

Get ready to add this simple DIY kite project to your STEM activities this season. If you want to find out how to build a kite that flies high, read on! While you're at it, make sure to check out more fun engineering activities.

Our STEM projects are designed with you, the parent or teacher, in mind! Easy to set up, quick to do, most activities will take only 15 to 30 minutes to complete and are heaps of fun! Plus, our supplies lists usually contain only free or cheap materials you can source from home!

Learn more about STEM below.

What Is STEM For Kids?

So you might ask, what does STEM actually stand for? STEM is science, technology, engineering, and math. The most important thing you can take away from this, is that STEM is for everyone!

Yes, kids of all ages can work on STEM projects and enjoy STEM lessons. STEM activities are great for group work, too!

STEM is everywhere! Just look around. The simple fact that STEM surrounds us is why it's so important for kids to be a part of, use, and understand STEM.
Interested in STEM plus ART? Check out all our STEAM Activities!
From the buildings you see in town, the bridges that connect places, the computers we use, the software programs that go with them, and compasses for navigation, STEM is what makes it all possible.

Helpful STEM Resources To Get You Started

Here are a few resources that will help you introduce STEM more effectively to your kiddos or students and feel confident yourself when presenting materials. You'll find helpful free printables throughout.

How Does A Kite Work

Who invented the first kite?

Kites were first seen in ancient Chinese about 2,500 years ago! In very early times, kites were used by the military to send messages and for measuring distances. Soldiers could see them flying and knew what they meant.

The earliest kites were built of wood and cloth. Paper was invented around the year 100 A.D. and was soon used for kites.

What makes a kite fly?

A kite is pushed up into the air by the wind. Trying flying a kite on a still day, it won't get very high before it drops back to the ground.

When the kite is flying there are several forces at work. The force from the kite string pulls the kite forward and downwards , the force of the wind and lift around the kite pushes the kite upwards and backwards and the force of gravity pulls the kite straight down.

The kite climbs into the air when the force of the wind and lift pushing it upwards is greater than the pull of the string and gravity.

How to make your kite fly better...

The force of the wind will be greater when the kite is on angle to the wind. The force of gravity will be less when your kite is made from light weight materials.

Why does a kite need a tail?

Trying to fly a kite without a tail may result in the kite spinning and rolling a lot because the kite is unstable. A tail on a kite helps to provide drag and stabilize the kite. The more windy the weather the longer the tail may need to be or you can even add more than one tail. Experiment with the length of your kite tail!

How To Build A Kite

Let's get down to the basics of building your kite so you can be off flying a kite in no time!

Supplies:

Newspaper

2 x 1/8" dowels

Colorful tape

2 Embroidery floss strands or strong string

Scissors

Ruler

Instructions:

STEP 1. Measure a 24" and 20" dowel and carefully cut with scissors. Then measure 6" down from the top of the 24" dowel and place the center of your 20" dowel across.

STEP 2. Tie the center of the dowels together by weaving a piece of embroidery around each side and tie off into a knot.

STEP 3. Carefully cut a notch into the ends of the dowels, wrap a piece of embroidery thread around the kite and tie into a knot. You can hold those in place with a dab on hot glue.

STEP 4. Lay the "t" shape onto a large piece of newspaper and cut an inch larger all the way around.

STEP 5. Fold each edge over the string around the kite and firmly tape the edges.

STEP 6. Poke a tiny hole at each point of the kite. Then starting at the top, place a piece of string through the top hole, tie a knot onto the back of the kite and tape.

Place that same string through the bottom hole, tie a knot onto the back of the kite and tape.

STEP 7. Let that string hang about 24" from the bottom and tie about 5 7" pieces around the string.

STEP 8. Repeat STEP 6 across the width of the kite.

STEP 9. Use a piece of leftover dowel and wrap an entire strand of embroidery thread around it. Then tie the end to the center "t" of the strings and the dowel will be what you use to fly the kite.

Now time to go fly your kite!

More Fun Things To Build

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Find out how to make a kite that is awesome to fly. Our simple kite design and tutorial will have you outdoors flying your DIY kite in no time.

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Explore what engineering is through music and dance.

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The Engineering SONG | Science for Kids | Grades K-2

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3 Benefits of e-Gallery Walk for Students

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E-Gallery Walk promotes deeper engagement and deepened learning, higher-order thinking skills and workforce skills among students.

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Having a gallery walk in the classroom is a good way for students to be up and moving around. Gallery walks can be made up of student's individual work, group work, whole class work, or made up of resources the teacher provides for learning content. The students can walk around with pencil, paper, and a clipboard to answer questions, write ideas, or take notes of the things they examine/explore.

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Write something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview.

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This dance helps connect both sides of the brain, coordination, fine and gross motor, eye tracking, self regulation, connecting music with movements, and they move with the Springtime.

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Many benefits of scarf dancing. Helps with coordination, students doing movement that fit with the music, rhythm, balance, object performance, being able to cross over the body. Also, it gets students moving and using their bodies to help their brain stay awake, alert, and thinking.