Science Lesson: Discovering Sound Energy
In this lesson, students explore how sound energy is transferred from one place to another in waves. Students build kazoos and use slinky springs to investigate how sound interacts with matter, moving in waves of vibrating molecules to transfer energy from one place to another.
Science Big Ideas
- There are different ways that energy can be transferred from place to place, including by moving objects, heat, electric currents, and sound.
- All sound is made by vibrations. Sound waves are patterns of vibrating molecules caused by the movement of sound through a medium.
- As sound energy moves through matter, it causes molecules to press together. This is called compression. When this happens, the molecules on either side of the compression spread out. This is called rarefaction.
- Waves have different properties that are affected by how much energy a wave is carrying. The volume of sound is related to a sound wave’s amplitude and pitch is determined by the sound wave’s frequency. Frequency is the number of waves that pass a set point in a given amount of time.
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Science Essential Questions
- Why is sound a form of energy?
- What evidence can you think of to support the argument that sound energy can be transferred from one place to another?
- How are the vibrations related to the sound made by your humming?
- Why does sound need some kind of matter to travel through?
- What kinds of mediums sound can travel through?
- How do you think sound is different in space, where there are large expanses of empty space with no matter?
- Why do sound waves have compressions and rarefactions?
- How is a sound wave’s wavelength measured?
- How can a wave be described?
- How does a sound wave’s frequency relate to its pitch?
Common Science Misconceptions
Misconception: Sound energy moves in the empty space between particles of matter.
Fact: Sound energy moves by vibrating molecules that collide with one another, passing on the energy from one molecule to another.
Misconception: Sound moves faster in air than in liquids or solids because air forms less of a barrier.
Fact: Sound moves fastest in solids and slowest in air because the molecules of solids are more closely packed together, so the sound can transfer from one molecule to the next more quickly.
Science Vocabulary
Absorb : to take in
Acoustics : the properties of a space that determine how sound waves travel
Amplitude : a measure of a wave’s displacement from its resting position
Frequency : the number of waves that pass a set point in a given amount of time
Reflect : to bounce off of
Sound : energy that is carried in waves by vibrating molecules
Sound Wave : a pattern of vibrating molecules caused by the movement of sound through a medium
Transmit : to pass onward
Vibrate : to move back and forth quickly
Wavelength : the distance spanned by one cycle of the motion of a wave
Lexile(R) Certified Non-Fiction Science Reading (Excerpt)
Slamming a Door
There is a mausoleum in Scotland where the sound of a door slammed with enough force will echo for 15 seconds. Mausoleums are structures that hold burial chambers.
Sound is energy that is carried in waves by vibrating molecules. To vibrate means to move back and forth quickly.
When you slam a door, you transfer kinetic energy to the door. When the door collides with the doorframe, the door transfers energy to the doorframe. This collision causes the molecules that make up the door and doorframe to vibrate. Some of the kinetic energy is converted to sound.
The energy from the door slamming causes nearby air molecules to vibrate and bump into the molecules closest to them. This passes on the energy and makes them vibrate too. Then those molecules bump into more particles, and so on. Particles stop vibrating once they have passed on the energy.
Parts of a Sound Wave
As sound energy moves through matter, it causes molecules to press together. This is called compression. When this happens, the molecules on either side of the compression spread out. This is called rarefaction.
In some waves, the molecules become more compressed than in other waves. This has to do with the wave’s amplitude. Amplitude is a measure of the wave’s displacement from its resting position. Displacement refers to the movement of a substance from its resting position. The larger the force is that causes the disturbance, the greater a wave’s amplitude will be.
Because of this, amplitude is related to the amount of energy a sound wave carries. The greater the amplitude of a sound wave, the more energy it is carrying and the louder it will be. The loudness of sound is measured in decibels.
If you gently close a door instead of slamming it, air molecules don’t become as compressed because you apply less of a force. This means there is less energy, which results in a quieter sound.
Hands-on Science Activity
In this lesson, students figure out the phenomena of how sound interacts with matter, moving in waves to transfer energy from one place to another. Students work in teams to investigate how sound from their voice is transferred by vibrating molecules causing objects to vibrate. Students experiment and gather data from their models to support an argument about how sound energy is transferred from one place to another in waves of vibrating molecules.
Science Assessments
KnowAtom incorporates formative and summative assessments designed to make students thinking visible for deeper student-centered learning.
- Vocabulary Check
- Lab Checkpoints
- Concept Check Assessment
- Concept Map Assessment
- And More...
See How KnowAtom Aligns to NGSS Science Standards
Discover hands-on screens-off core science curriculum for student centered K-8 classrooms. KnowAtom supports classrooms with all hands-on materials, curriculum, and professional development to support mastery of the standards.
