Vibration & Sound: Make Sprinkles Dance

You might know that sound is caused by vibrations, but did you know that sound can also make things vibrate? You might have noticed this if you have ever been at a concert or in a car with the stereo booming. Sometimes the sounds are so loud that you can feel the vibrations! However, sounds that loud can damage your hearing, so in this project you will investigate them using something safer. Read more

Can you make something move by using only sound? Your students will find out in this lesson plan as they explore the connection between sound and vibrations. This is the second in a pair of lessons about sound. See Sound and Vibrations 1: Rubber Band Guitar for the first lesson. Read more

Eardrums are membranes inside your ears that vibrate when sound waves hit them. These vibrations are converted into electrical signals and sent to your brain, which allows you to hear sound. The frequency response of your eardrum, or the range of frequencies that will cause it to vibrate, determines your hearing range. Typical human hearing ranges from about 20 Hz up to 20,000 Hz, although the ability to hear high frequencies typically degrades as you get older. Some other animals can… Read more

Join Science Buddies this summer for virtual summer camp! Each week, we'll have a fun STEM theme for kids of all ages, suggestions for simple hands-on activities, book picks, and more. With our Summer of STEM, we'll keep you and your kids inspired all summer with creative and innovative science and engineering activities — for free. This week: up, up, and away with superhero science! Superhero STEM Superhero stories appeal to people of all ages.… Read more

Use these free STEM lessons and activities to explore the science of sound. The free STEM lessons and activities below help you teach students about the science of sound, from learning about the relationship between sound waves and vibration to understanding amplitude, frequency, and pitch. In these activities, students can experiment with sound waves by building and testing a variety of simple instruments and noise makers, including rubber band… Read more

Use these free STEM lessons and activities to help students get hands-on building, testing, and exploring the science of energy and the different types of potential and kinetic energy. From the classic snake-in-a-can prank to stretching and shooting rubber bands across the room, bouncing a basketball, or rolling a marble down a ramp, kids know energy in motion when they see it. The world is full of energy, and energy is constantly being used,… Read more