Sound energy is a type of energy that is made by vibrations. First, we just blew through straws. No sound was created because nothing was vibrating. Then we cut the straws into straw horns & we had a little kazoo orchestra in my classroom! My students could see that in order to create sound - we had to make the straw vibrate.
We cut straw ends into points & then flattened it using our teeth. The 2 pointed, flat flaps vibrate against each other & create a great kazoo sound! It took about 10 minutes to get everyone's straw kazoo working. If you try this with your kids, don't get discouraged if it doesn't work right away! Tell the kids to keep flattening the points down with their teeth. The ends need to be "just right" - not too far apart that the air blowing through can't make them flap together but not too close together that the air cannot get through. I tell my kids that all science is experimentation - experiment with the straw until you finally get the kazoo sound. It is LOUD! & FUN!!
Variables:
-we added another straw to the end and the pitch became lower
-we cut the straw in half & the pitch became higher
-we cut tiny holes into the straw & played it like a recorder
This was so much fun! My kids kept on coming up with new ways to change the pitch of their instrument- great to see little minds at work!
If you're looking for some other fun sound activities, please check out my new Sound packet on Teachers Pay Teachers:
No comments:
Post a Comment