Physics Central
Physics Central: Physics at Your Desk: Drumming Fingers
An easy experiment through which students explore sound waves while tapping their fingers on a desk or table in a quiet room.
![Pbs: The Music Instinct: Good Vibrations! [Pdf] Lesson Plan](https://content.lessonplanet.com/knovation/original/32599-2e1d15a712acffd6c74d979ac6bcf592.jpg?1661522343 "Pbs: The Music Instinct: Good Vibrations! [Pdf] Lesson Plan")
PBS
Pbs: The Music Instinct: Good Vibrations! [Pdf]
Using the program "The Music Instinct," available on the PBS website, students will explore the nature of sound vibrations over two class periods.
Museum of Science
Museum of Science and Industry: Online Science: Activities: Sound Like a Turkey
An activity where students investigate the sounds created by the friction of fingers moving along a wet string.
Physics Classroom
The Physics Classroom: Waves and Sound: Standing Wave Patterns Interactive
Students investigate the formation of standing waves, the vibrational patterns associated with the various harmonics, and the difference between transverse and longitudinal standing waves.
Scholastic
Scholastic: Study Jams! Science: Energy, Light and Sound: Sound
A video and a short quiz on how sound travels in waves, its properties, and how to measure it.
Georgia State University
Georgia State University: Hyper Physics: Transverse and Longitudinal Waves
The physics tutorial illustrates and explains the distinction between transverse and longitudinal waves. Related links provided.
Scholastic
Scholastic: Dirtmeister's Science Lab: Good Vibrations
An experiment that explores the relationship between vibrations and pitch. This site includes web links, a challenge question, and notes to the teacher.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Investigation of Pitch and Rate of Vibration
An inquiry lesson where students explore pitch and the rate of vibration. Students will look at how the rate of vibration which creates pitch is affected by the size of the object studied.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Exploring Sound: Length Makes a Difference
Students begin to explore the relationship between the length of an object and the sound it produces as it vibrates, by using a wood or plastic ruler and the edge of a desk or table.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Sounds Like Music
Music can loosely be defined as organized sound. The lesson objectives, understanding sound is a form of energy, understanding pitch, understanding sound traveling through a medium, and being able to separate music from sound, can...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Mn Step: Sound Makers
For this activity, students make a sound cylinder using a cardboard tube, and investigate the sound wave vibrations they can feel at its end when they speak into it.
PBS
Pbs Teachers: Make a Guitar, Vibration Experiment
Experience how vibrations make sound by constructing a guitar using rubber bands and a cereal box.
Hunkins Experiments
Hunkin's Experiments: Sound Experiments
Hunkin's Experiments is a group of simple cartoon illustrations of scientific principles. Some would work well in the classroom, but others have little value beyond entertaining students. All of the projects are easy to do. This group of...
Science and Mathematics Initiative for Learning Enhancement (SMILE)
Smile: Sound
This site provides a lesson plan designed for primary learners over a three week period. Students learn concepts of vibration, communication,and pitch.
Science and Mathematics Initiative for Learning Enhancement (SMILE)
Smile: Sound and Vibration
Using some basic items, you can demonstrate the basic principles of sound, pitch, and vibration. This will allow the elementary student to discover some basic principles of sound and vibrations.
The Franklin Institute
Franklin Institute: Music to Our Ears
Discover the connection between sound waves and hearing with this webpage tutorial. Be sure to click on the picture for detailed information.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: The Energy of Music
Young scholars are introduced to sound energy concepts and how engineers use sound energy. Through hands-on activities and demonstrations, students examine how we know sound exists by listening to and seeing sound waves. They learn to...
Other
Gcse: Sound Pitch
Informational site on sound provides waveform illustrations of sound pitch. Provides additional information on ultrasounds, waves, reflection and much more.
Teachers TryScience
Teachers Try Science: Musical Coat Hangers
From the National Science and Technology Centre in Australia comes this easy experiment that shows how sound waves travel and what materials are good conductors of sound.
Physics Classroom
The Physics Classroom: Forced Vibration
This physics tutorial explores forced vibration. Includes links to natural frequency, standing wave patterns and fundamental frequency and harmonics.
Physics Classroom
The Physics Classroom: Waves, Sound and Light: Longitudinal Pulse
The animation portrays a medium as a series of particles connected by springs. In this type of longitudinal wave the particles of the medium vibrate in a direction parallel to the direction of energy transport.
Mocomi & Anibrain Digital Technologies
Mocomi: What Is Sound?
Defines sound, how it travels, the components of a sound wave, the different types, and other fun facts.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: Sti Lesson 11: The Cigar Box Guitar
Science instruction is most effective when using a hands-on delivery system. This lesson will use your students' natural affinity for music and musical instruments to reinforce and refine their knowledge of the nature of sound -...