Every musical instrument is different, but they all have one thing common: they convert energy from motion into sound by causing a part of the instrument to vibrate. These vibrations cause waves in the air that, when sensed by our ears, are interpreted as sound. Sound waves travel at different speeds depending on the source of the vibrations. The faster a sound wave moves, the higher the pitch of the sound.

This lesson introduces the concepts of wavelength and amplitude in transverse waves. In the associated activity, students will use ropes and their bodies to investigate different wavelengths and amplitudes.

Students will explore properties of sound and sound waves, experiment with building models of various musical instruments, then design and build a playable musical instrument of their choosing.

Did you know that a elephant seal can hold its breath for 77 minutes and dive 5,000 feet (1524 meters) into the sea? We are still working on the science to discover just what enables these remarkable feats under intense pressure, cold, and dark. Diving birds and mammals utilize physical, behavioral, and physiological adaptations to withstand the extreme conditions of diving and still return to the surface with oxygen reserves (and a meal!). Your students can join us in investigating just how they do this.

This unit will review the concepts of pressure-changing with depth, marine food webs, structure and function, photosynthesis and respiration, and of course, the process of science. It will introduce metabolism, the diving reflex, sensory structures for detecting prey, wave properties of acoustics, trophic pyramids, and bioaccumulation of toxins in long-lived predators. Oh yeah, and there will be orca forensics!

In this activity, students use their own creativity (and their bodies) to make longitudinal and transverse waves. Through the use of common items, they will investigate the different between longitudinal and transverse waves.

In this lesson, students learn about sound. Girls and boys are introduced to the concept of frequency and how it applies to musical sounds.

To further their understanding of sound energy, students identify the different pitches and frequencies created by a vibrating ruler and a straw kazoo. They create high- and low-pitch sound waves.

Students continue to build a rigorous background in human sensors and their engineering equivalents by learning about electronic touch, light, sound and ultrasonic sensors that measure physical quantities somewhat like eyes, ears and skin. Specifically, they learn about microphones as one example of sound sensors, how sounds differ (intensity, pitch) and the components of sound waves (wavelength, period, frequency, amplitude). Using microphones connected to computers running (free) Audacity® software, student teams experiment with machine-generated sounds and their own voices and observe the resulting sound waves on the screen, helping them to understand that sounds are waves. Students take pre/post quizzes, complete a worksheet and watch two short online videos about "seeing" sound.

Students examine the existence of sound by listening to and seeing sound waves while conducting a set of simple activities as a class or in pairs at stations. Students describe sound in terms of its pitch, volume and frequency. They use this knowledge to discuss how engineers study sound waves to help people who cannot hear or talk.

In this activity, students play the game Simon Says to make the amplitudes and wavelengths defined by the teacher. First they play alone, and then they play with a partner using a piece of rope.

Students work with partners to create four different instruments to investigate the frequency of the sounds they make. Teams may choose to make a shoebox guitar, water-glass xylophone, straw panpipe or a soda bottle organ (or all four!). Conduct this activity in conjunction with Lesson 3 of the Sound and Light unit.

Students learn the decibel reading of various noises and why high-level readings damage hearing. Sound types and decibel readings are written on sheets of paper, and students arrange the sounds from the lowest to highest decibel levels. If available, a decibel meter can be used to measure sounds by students.

Students learn about sound and sound energy as they gather evidence that sound travels in waves. Teams work through five activity stations that provide different perspectives on how sound can be seen and felt. At one station, students observe oobleck (a shear-thickening fluid made of cornstarch and water) “dance” on a speaker as it interacts with sound waves (see Figure 1). At another station, the water or grain inside a petri dish placed on a speaker moves and make patterns, giving students a visual understanding of the wave properties of sound. At another station, students use objects of various materials and shapes (such as Styrofoam, paper, cardboard, foil) to amplify or distort the sound output of a homemade speaker (made from another TeachEngineering activity). At another station, students complete practice problems, drawing waves of varying amplitude and frequency. And at another station, they experiment with string (and guitar wire and stringed instruments, if available) to investigate how string tightness influences the plucked sound generated, and relate this sound to high/low frequency. A worksheet guides them through the five stations. Some or all of the stations may be included, depending on class size, resources and available instructors/aides, and this activity is ideal for an engineering family event.

Vibrating materials can make sound, and sound can make materials vibrate. When a mallet taps the glass, the water inside the glass vibrates. The pitch of the sound depends on the speed of the vibrations. Since the glass with the most water slows down the vibrations the most, it produces a lower pitched sound.

Vibrating materials can make sound, and sound can make materials vibrate. When a mallet taps the glass, the water inside the glass vibrates. The pitch of the sound depends on the speed of the vibrations. Since the glass with the most water slows down the vibrations the most, it produces a lower pitched sound.

Students are provided with an understanding of sound and light waves through a "sunken treasure" theme a continuous storyline throughout the lessons. In the first five lessons, students learn about sound, and in the rest of the lessons, they explore light concepts. To begin, students are introduced to the concepts of longitudinal and transverse waves. Then they learn about wavelength and amplitude in transverse waves. In the third lesson, students learn about sound through the introduction of frequency and how it applies to musical sounds. Next, they learn all about echolocation what it is and how engineers use it to "see" things in the dark or deep underwater. The last of the five sound lessons introduces acoustics; students learn how different materials reflect and absorb sound.

You hear sounds when vibrations go inside your ears and stimulate your nerves to send electrical signals to your brain. For instance, when the spoon is bumped against an object, it vibrates. As it vibrates, it sends out sound waves that bump into air molecules and cause them to bounce to and fro. Those bouncing air molecules bump into other air molecules and start them moving. This chain reaction of moving air molecules carries sound through the air in a series of waves that we call sound. Inside your ear, moving air molecules push on your eardrum and cause it to vibrate.

This lesson introduces the concepts of longitudinal and transverse waves. Students see several demonstrations of waves and characterize them by transverse and longitudinal behavior. This lesson also introduces the Sunken Treasure theme of the Sound and Light unit a continuous story line throughout the lessons.

Students will create a panorama drawing of their own landscape.  They will include landmarks and cardinal directions in their drawings, and use their drawings to plot the movement of the sun in the sky over the course of a day. They may make their observations in one day, or over a period of days or weeks. Once students have created their own panoramas, they will look at panoramas taken in the North and South Poles and compare similarities and differences. They will then explore the “Sun Path Simulator” online. Before beginning these lessons, students should already know: 1) How to find the four, cardinal directions, and 2) That the Earth rotates on its axis, and revolves around the sun. 3) How to tell time.  This unit pairs nicely with the Mystery Science Unit, Spinning Sky. Where indicated, worksheets and videos for lessons can be found on their website. Links to all other worksheets for the entire unit are in the “Overview” Section of my slideshow. Each day’s lesson comes with a worksheet to focus the students and to show evidence of student learning.

Do you know how waves work? Do you know what they have to do with stealth technology? Find out in this hands on demo that you can try at home.