Pūtaiao Focus - Sound

Our pūtaiao - science focus this term is 'What is Sound'. Over the last few weeks, we have been learning about how sound is made. We have learnt that sound is made through vibrations that travel and produce sound. 

Our first activity in class, was to sit in a quiet circle and just listen. Afterwards we discussed the sounds we heard. Some students said they didn't hear anything, so we tried it a few times. Gradually, more and more students began to notice all the sounds that they'd never noticed going on around them all the time.  

We also went outside to listen to as many different sounds as we could.

Guess the sound is a fun activity we enjoyed playing to get us thinking more about sound.

Our student teacher, Isabella, helped the class with these two activities. In the first one, the four glasses are filled with different amounts of water which make different sounds.  Not all the class were successful in making the glasses sing. We wondered if the adults found it easier because their fingers are bigger?

We found that the more water there is, the slower the vibration, resulting in a lower pitch. There is a higher pitch when there is less water in the glass.

The second activity involved clanging metal kitchen objects together in water, while students listened to the sound through a submerged plastic bottle. 

We found that sound appears much louder in water.