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Lesson 1 of 8

Sound vibrations

I can describe how sounds are caused and explain what sets the volume and pitch of a sound.

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Lesson 1 of 8
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Sound vibrations

I can describe how sounds are caused and explain what sets the volume and pitch of a sound.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. All sounds are caused by vibrations. Some vibrations are too small or too fast to see.
  2. The volume of a sound means how loud or quiet it is. The pitch of a sound means how high or low it is.
  3. Amplitude is a measure of the distance or size of a vibration. The greater the amplitude, the louder a sound.
  4. Frequency is a measure of how often the vibrations occur. The greater the frequency, the higher the pitch.
  5. Sounds of different volume and pitch can be produced by controlling the amplitude and frequency of vibrations.

Keywords

  • Volume - Describes the loudness of a sound.

  • Pitch - Describes how high or low a note is.

  • Vibration - A repeated back and forth movement.

  • Amplitude - Measures the size of a vibration, i.e. how far an object vibrates.

  • Frequency - The number of vibrations that occur every second.

Common misconception

Pupils often do not use the concept of vibrations to explain the source of a sound, if the vibrations are not obvious, such as vibrating air in a wind instrument or from two stones knocked together.

Include examples of sounds caused by vibrations that are not caused by something that is obviously vibrating, such as a string in a stringed instrument.

Many of the ideas in this lesson can be engagingly demonstrated using a variety of musical instruments (some could be home–made). The idea of a sound wave is avoided in this lesson; it will be developed in subsequent lessons. There's no need to show pupils an oscilloscope in this lesson either.
Teacher tip

Equipment

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2026), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Prior knowledge starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Match the following key words to the correct definition.

Correct Answer:pitch,how high or low the note of a sound is

how high or low the note of a sound is

Correct Answer:vibration,a regular, repeating back and forth movement

a regular, repeating back and forth movement

Correct Answer:volume,how loud or quiet a sound is

how loud or quiet a sound is

Q2.
How many of the following can make a sound: a vibrating string, a vibrating drum skin or vibrating air in a tube.

0
1
2
Correct answer: 3

Q3.
Match the following volumes of sound to a description of how it could be made.

Correct Answer:medium volume,a guitar string plucked normally

a guitar string plucked normally

Correct Answer:quiet volume,a guitar sting plucked very gently

a guitar sting plucked very gently

Correct Answer:loud volume,a guitar plucked with a lot of force

a guitar plucked with a lot of force

Q4.
How would the sound of a wooden spoon hitting a pan change if the pan were hit harder?

Correct answer: the volume of the sound would increase
the pitch of the sound would increase (a squeakier sound)
the volume of the sound would decrease
the pitch of the sound would decrease (a deeper sound)

Q5.
Which of the following can cause the pitch of a sound to change?

striking a key on a piano harder
Correct answer: striking different keys on a piano
Correct answer: plucking different strings on a guitar
plucking the strings on a guitar more gently

Q6.
Which of the following happen in our ears to allows us to hear a sound?

sound enters our heads through a tiny hole
Correct answer: sound makes our eardrums vibrate
sound moves air into our ears
Correct answer: Sound makes the air in our ears vibrate

Assessment exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
How would you describe the sound of thunder?

high pitch and low volume
high pitch and high volume
low pitch and low volume
Correct answer: low pitch and high volume

Q2.
How would you describe the sound of a mouse's squeak?

Correct answer: high pitch and low volume
high pitch and high volume
low pitch and low volume
low pitch and high volume

Q3.
Starting with what happens first, sort the following statements in the correct order to describe how we speak.

1 - our vocal cords vibrate
2 - the air in our throat, mouth and nose vibrates
3 - our voice box (larynx) controls how the vocal chords vibrate to make a sound
4 - different sounds can be made by changing our mouth shape and tongue position

Q4.
Louder sounds are caused larger vibrations. What word describes the size of a vibration?

Correct Answer: amplitude, Amplitude

Q5.
Making a guitar string tighter or shorter can make it vibrate more quickly. If a guitar string vibrates more times each second, it has a higher .

Correct Answer: frequency, Frequency

Q6.
Which of the following statements about sound are related to the frequency?

Correct answer: the number of vibrations per second
it sets the volume of the sound
Correct answer: it sets the pitch of the sound
the size of a vibration from the rest position

Lesson appears in

UnitScience / Sound, light and vision

Science

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