A Kazoo For You. Science Activity.

Transcription

1 A Kazoo For You Science Activity

2 A Kazoo For You Science Activity Published by Apologia Educational Ministries, Inc Meridian Street, Suite 340 Anderson, IN Copyright 2018 Apologia Educational Ministries, Inc. All rights reserved. Cover design and e-book layout by Christi Gifford

3 THANK YOU FOR VOTING US #1 OVER 10 YEARS IN A ROW Receive 7 FREE science lessons from Apologia s Young Explorer Series Scan this code or visit Apologia Educational Ministries, Inc

4 INTRODUCTION This activity e-book accompanies the following video. View the video and use these lesson pages to enjoy a fun family science activity! If you are unable to click on the image above and view the video, go to Apologia Educational Ministries, Inc. 4

5 BACKGROUND INFORMATION What is sound? Well, let s start simple by talking about cookies! Imagine a full glass of milk. If you aren t moving the glass, the milk is still. If you dip an Oreo into the glass and watch closely, you will see that you created small waves in the milk. If you forcefully dunk your Oreo, which we don t recommend, you may even cause larger milk waves that spill over the top of your glass. So, what do Oreos and milk have to do with sound? All matter, including Oreos, milk, and air, is made up of molecules. When those molecules move, they make other molecules move in the same manner, called a vibration, and this creates a wave. Typically, we hear sound as the vibrations through the air surrounding us. Your voice is formed by your vocal cords vibrating air, but your mouth, nose, head, and even the air around you contribute to that vibration and change the sound of your voice. I hear Dad calling me for dinner. Hmm, it sounds like he is catching a cold. Sound waves can also travel through liquids, such as water, and solids, such as walls. Sound can efficiently travel long distances through water. When you knock on a door, the sound has to travel through the solid door and into the air for you to be able to hear it. Whales can hear each other from over 500 miles away! 2018 Apologia Educational Ministries, Inc. 5

6 Fun Facts The normal range of a voice in a quiet, open setting is about 600 feet. That s equivalent to someone standing on the ground and hearing someone talking at the top of the Washington Monument. According to Guinness World Records, under ideal conditions, some human whistles can be heard 5 miles away. And, under optimal conditions, the human voice can be detected over 10 miles away through still water! How do we hear? Your ears are designed to capture and funnel sound waves. The shape of each wave determines if it is a high-pitched sound, like a squeaky mouse or a low-pitched sound, like a lion s roar. Higher pitched Lower pitched The waves entering your ears vibrate the incredible structures of your inner ears. These vibrations will be turned into a signal which will be sent to your brain. Your brain interprets the signals as individual sounds. Because you have two ears, you can determine the direction of the sounds you hear. If a sound enters your left ear before your right ear, that is the first clue for your brain to determine direction. Your brain also interprets the volume of the sound you hear because sounds get softer as they move further away or are blocked by objects. You instinctively turn your head ever so slightly to help your brain interpret sounds that are either directly in front of or behind you. Did you know that hearing is the fastest sense your body has? It s true! Your senses start when they are triggered. So even though light travels faster (about 300,000,000 meters per second) than sound waves (about 300 meters per second), your body recognizes the sounds it hears in just 0.05 seconds. It takes 0.2 seconds for your brain to process the light coming into your eyes, and 0.2 seconds for your brain to interpret what you feel. Your senses of smell and taste take even longer Apologia Educational Ministries, Inc. 6

7 Sound waves expand in all directions. When you create a water wave, the wave ripples out in a circular motion on the surface of the water. With sound waves, those waves are moving up, down, forward, and backward, and that is a good thing. If sound waves only went in one direction, the world would be a different type of experience. There would be less bird chirping, airplanes passing overhead, and conversation. Sound waves continue to move in all directions until something blocks them. You can probably tell how close you are to a speaker playing music. You hear the music in the room; you can hear the music if you go downstairs, but it is not as loud; you might even hear the music if you go outside. If you stand outside of a window and open it, however, the music will get louder again. The distance and the window blocked the sound. Why are there different sounds? A violin vibrates the air differently from a moving train, which is different from a person talking. In fact, each person s voice vibrates the air differently and that is why you can tell whether it is your mother or your father calling your name. If you can create a sound wave that is similar to that of any sound vibration of an object, you can sound like it. And, you can have a lot of fun mimicking sounds. We bet you can sound like an alarm going off or a speeding car. With some practice, you might even be able to sound like your mom or dad! Did you know that plants can hear? While you probably know that some animals, such as dogs and bats, were created to hear sounds that we cannot hear, you may not have known that plants hear sounds too. Even though plants do not have ears to listen to sounds like you do, scientists are discovering that plants detect the vibrations of predators on their leaves and react by increasing their defense responses. They detect the vibrations of water flowing and grow their roots in that direction. And some studies show that plants respond to the buzz of bees by increasing pollination! 2018 Apologia Educational Ministries, Inc. 7

8 Ma ke a Joyful Noise Isaiah 54:1 Psalm 100:1 Psalm 33:3 Psalm 98:4 Psalm 95:1 Psalm 95:2 Psalm 98:6 Psalm 66:1 Psalm 47:1 1 Chronicles 15:16 Psalm 81:1 Isaiah 24:14 Make Your Own Kazoo You will need: Two craft sticks 1 large rubber band 2 small rubber bands 2 strips of paper Tape You will do: 1. Put your two craft sticks together and wrap your two strips of paper around the stacked sticks. Crease the edges to help the paper hold its shape. Use tape to help secure it Apologia Educational Ministries, Inc. 8

9 2. Slide your paper off of the craft sticks and set it aside. 3. Put the large rubber band length-wise across one of the craft sticks. 4. Slide your two papers over the stick with the rubber band. 5. Put your second craft stick on top and use the two smaller rubber bands to attach your sticks together. Top View Side View 6. Hold your kazoo up to your lips with the paper side on the bottom and blow gently through the two sticks. You can apply more pressure to the side of the sticks where you are holding them, and you can move the paper into different positions to change the sounds you produce. Make a joyful noise! Why It Works You now know that all sound is a vibration funneled into your inner ears and interpreted by your brain. When you blow through your kazoo, your breath vibrates the large rubber band. This makes a sound wave that you hear. Applying pressure at different spots, and moving the paper makes the rubber band vibrate with different sound waves. You can check out more fun activities at our Homeschool-101.com site Apologia Educational Ministries, Inc. 9

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