Activity 3 Handout

Sound travels through the air in waves.

Sound is a form of energy. It travels from one place to another through a medium like air. It can also travel through other gases such as helium, and can even travel through liquids and solids. The only thing sound cannot travel through is a vacuum like space. When an object moves back and forth, or vibrates, it pushes the air molecules next to it. As air molecules get compressed into waves, the energy is transferred from molecule to molecule until it is exhausted. That is why sounds that are farther away sound softer their energy fades as they travel. Question: Is there sound in space? Hint: Space is an empty vacuum with no air. Answer: Sound is a form of energy that travels through a medium like air. In space, there is no sound because there is no air. How can astronauts hear each other in the spacecraft? It's simple the spacecraft is filled with air!

Activity 4 Handout Sound waves can be soft or loud. Sounds can be soft or loud. This characteristic of sound is called amplitude or volume. Volume measures the amount of energy in sound waves. More energy will move more air molecules and will sound louder. Less energy will move fewer air molecules and will sound softer. The amount of energy in a sound wave is measured in decibels (dB). To see a decibel chart with some familiar sounds, please see below.

Question: What was the loudest sound ever described by humans? Hint: It was produced by the most famous volcano in recorded history.

Answer: In 1883, the Krakatoa volcano in Indonesia erupted and threw ash and stone 300 square miles. The explosive sound from this eruption was heard 3,000 miles away. That's the distance from San Francisco to New York City. Question: What was the loudest animal sound ever measured? Hint: It was made by the largest animal on the earth. Answer: Blue whale communication has been measured up to 188 decibels, making it the loudest recorded sound from a living source. These underwater sounds have been detected 530 miles away.

Activity 6 Handout How fast do sound waves travel? Sound waves travel at different speeds depending on the temperature of the air. At 44 degrees Fahrenheit, sound travels approximately 1,100 feet per second, or 750 miles per hour. To put this into perspective, sound waves travel the distance of 3 1/2 football fields every second, or approximately 1 mile every 5 seconds. Question: If the air temperature rises, would sound waves travel faster or slower? Hint: As the temperature rises, molecules bump into each other more quickly, allowing the energy from the sound wave to travel more quickly. Answer: As the air temperature rises, sound waves travel faster. For example, at 32 degrees Fahrenheit, sound waves travel through the air at 1,087 feet per second, or 742 miles per hour. However, at 100 degrees Fahrenheit, sound waves would travel at 1,163 feet per second, or 794 miles per hour! Question: Do sound waves travel even faster through liquids and solids? Hint: Molecules are pushed together more tightly in liquids and solids, allowing the energy of the sound wave to travel more quickly. Answer: Sound waves travel through liquids and solids much quicker than air. For example, sound waves travel 4 1/2 times faster in water, or approximately 1 mile per second. In a solid like iron, sound waves travel 15 times as fast, or 3 miles per second. Now, can you guess why people used to put their ear to the track to listen for approaching trains?

Activity 8 Handout
Frequency: What frequencies can different animals hear? First, let's start with your hearing. Humans can hear between 20 Hz - 20,000 Hz. However, some animals can hear lower or higher than humans. Sounds that are lower than human hearing (below 20 Hz) are called Infrasound. Sounds that are higher than human hearing (above 20,000 Hz) are called Ultrasound. Please see the chart below to compare your hearing to some animals you may have studied.

Zoo Activity on Infrasound: Next time you're at the zoo, observe some of these animals they could be vocalizing sounds below human hearing. Ask yourself the following questions.

Is the hippo just yawning or is it vocalizing sounds we cannot hear?

Why does the giraffe seem so quiet?

Why would a herd of elephants suddenly perk up their ears and begin running in one direction?

Why do bats fly with their mouths open? They are vocalizing high frequency chirps that bounce or "echo" back to them. This form of navigation is called echolocation. A bat can fly through a dark cave and catch moths in mid-air using echolocation.

Why do grasshoppers need to hear frequencies up to 50,000 Hz? They are listening for predators like the shrew the smallest of all land mammals. Shrews are insect-eating animals called insectivores, and they use echolocation to locate crunchy little snacks like the grasshopper.

Have you ever heard the phrase, "quiet as a mouse?" It's not that mice are quiet, it's just that much of their communication is ultrasonic. When a baby mouse calls for its mother, it does so at 40,000 Hz and adult mice can communicate up to 70,000 Hz! Compare this to the hearing range of a cat and you will understand how highfrequency communication can be a survival strategy.

Question: What animal can hear the lowest frequencies?

Hint: It is a migratory bird. Answer: Pigeons can hear frequencies as low as .1 Hz, or one vibration every ten seconds! This allows pigeons to hear the infrasonic sounds of ocean waves breaking on the coastline. By positioning their flight path according to coastlines, pigeons can accurately navigate long migrations. Question: What animal can hear the highest frequencies? Hint: It is an insect. Answer: Noctuid Moths can hear up to 240,000 Hz! For a moth, the most important job every night is to avoid being eaten by echolocating bats. After hearing a bat's ultrasonic chirps, a moth will quickly fly away to get out of the bat's detection range.

Activity 5 Handout

Frequency

Sounds can be low like a growling tiger or high like a chirping bird. This characteristic of sound is called pitch or frequency. Objects which vibrate faster produce a higher frequency, and objects which vibrate more slowly produce a lower frequency. The frequency of a sound is equal to how many times it vibrates each second. Vibrations per second are measured in Hertz (Hz). An object that vibrates 1 time each second would have a frequency of 1 Hertz (Hz). An object that vibrates 5 times each second would have a frequency of 5 Hertz (Hz). Question: If you make a musical instrument shorter, will it have a higher or lower frequency? Hint: A piccolo is 12 1/2 inches long, however, if you stretched out a tuba it would measure 27 feet! Answer: Shorter instruments produce a higher pitch or frequency. Sound waves can travel, or vibrate, through a shorter tube faster than a longer tube. The faster sound waves vibrate, the higher the vibrating frequency will be. You will see and hear how this works later with the panpipes activity.

Activity 2 Handout

Seeing Sound Activity Handout SOUND WAVES Concept: Sound moves in waves.
When a drop of water falls into a container of water, how will the waves move? Please draw what you see.

If a rock is dropped into the container of water, how do the waves move?

What happens when the waves hit the sides of the container?

If this were sound what would that be called? Does the water move across the container? (Watch the cork; does the cork move across the container?) Explain what you see.

If sound works like the waves of water, does a vibration send a molecule of air to your ear, or does it bump into other molecules on its way to your ear?

Activity 1 Handout

THE SCIENCE OF SOUND

1. What is sound? Describe it in your own words.

2. Close your eyes. Listen for a minute. What do you hear?

3. Close your eyes again. Listen to the sounds you hear. List them below in the appropriate categories.

4. Compare two kinds of sound, noise and music. List the differences.

Activity 2 Handout
Seeing Sound Using an Oscilloscope to LOOK AT SOUND WAVES Different sounds produce different wave patterns. Watch the screen as someone makes sounds to see how the wave patterns are different as shown on the oscilloscope. Draw a picture in each box to show the wave pattern.

Underneath the picture, describe the sound: Soft or Loud (volume) High or Low (pitch)

Volume: Pitch:

Volume: Pitch:

Volume: Pitch:

Volume: Pitch: