Sound vibrations
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can describe how sounds are caused and explain what sets the volume and pitch of a sound.
Key learning points
- All sounds are caused by vibrations. Some vibrations are too small or too fast to see.
- The volume of a sound means how loud or quiet it is. The pitch of a sound means how high or low it is.
- Amplitude is a measure of the distance or size of a vibration. The greater the amplitude, the louder a sound.
- Frequency is a measure of how often the vibrations occur. The greater the frequency, the higher the pitch.
- 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.
Teacher tip
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.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match the following key words to the correct definition.
Q2.How many of the following can make a sound: a vibrating string, a vibrating drum skin or vibrating air in a tube.
Q3.Match the following volumes of sound to a description of how it could be made.
Q4.How would the sound of a wooden spoon hitting a pan change if the pan were hit harder?
Q5.Which of the following can cause the pitch of a sound to change?
Q6.Which of the following happen in our ears to allows us to hear a sound?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.How would you describe the sound of thunder?
Q2.How would you describe the sound of a mouse's squeak?
Q3.Starting with what happens first, sort the following statements in the correct order to describe how we speak.
Q4.Louder sounds are caused larger vibrations. What word describes the size of a vibration?
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 .
Q6.Which of the following statements about sound are related to the frequency?
To help you plan your 7 science lesson on: Sound vibrations, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 7 science lesson on: Sound vibrations, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 science lessons from the Sound, light and vision unit, dive into the full secondary science curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.