S for Sound

See what we did for other letters in the Alphabet in Simple Science.

S for Sound

Science Notebook Page (Click the picture to print).

     Background

We started out by reading some books about sound.  The Sounds We Hear and Sounds All Around were definitely the best for Xander's level of comprehension.  I defined sound as a type of energy made by vibrations (of course we had to talking about how when something vibrates it shakes.  He had fun vibrating.).  We talked about high sounds and low sounds.  I let him play on the piano to experiment with high and low.  We also talked about loud sounds and quiet sounds, so we practiced whispering and talking loudly.  My favorite thing we did was go on a walk around our neighborhood to listen for all of the different sounds we could hear.  It was kind of neat to hear the things we normally tune out.  We also watched the Magic School Bus: In the Haunted House, which is about sound.



Sound Visualization

Materials:

flat drum (we used our lollipop drum)
rice or other small objects

Procedure:
Sound is a hard concept because you can't "see" sound.  The science teacher in me knows that sound is only the result of vibrations in the air and that without the air, you wouldn't have sound.  However, I wasn't sure how to explain that to a three year old.  Instead, I decided to try to show him that sound is movement.  We had read in a book that when you hit the head of a drum, it vibrates.  I decided that that would work for us.  I took him outside with our lollipop drum and sprinkled a little rice in it.  Then I reminded him how the drum has to vibrate to make sound and I tapped the drum with the mallet.  We watched the rice bounce.  Then I let him give it a try.   I think part of it sank in because he has since talked about big vibrations when he heard loud sounds.

 Hitting it really hard and making a loud sound (and a lot of movement)!

Mega-Maraca!
Materials:

balloon
paper (newspaper and white paper)
flour
water
dried beans

Procedure:
To go along with learning about sounds we made a mega-maraca out of paper mache!  We mixed some water into flour until it was a thick soupy mixture.  Then we dipped strips of newspaper in the soup and completely covered our balloon, a few times over.  After it was well covered in newspaper, I covered it in strips of white paper.  Then we let it dry.  Xander was very impatient about the drying.  We had used so much flour mixture that it took a couple days (plus it rained those days).

Once it was dry Xander was very excited to pop the balloon!  Sadly, it stuck to the walls too much, so we had to cut the top.

Then I had Xander shake our maraca and listen to what sounds it made (none).

So he added some beans

Once all the beans were in, I taped up the top and let him paint away!

Finally, after the paint dried, he had his mega-maraca!  He had a lot of fun shaking it!  He even told me he was vibrating it to make the sounds!  I had him listen to see what sounds it made now.

While he was painting, I also had him paint an empty can.  When it was dry I put a balloon over the top to make a drum.  He really likes the drum and it has been added to our instrument collection.

Check out my Alphabet in Simple Science Pinterest Board for more ideas!