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KS2 Science textbook

Chapter 8: Sound

  • Strand Sound
  • Level Year 4
  • Practice 82 questions with step-by-step solutions

National Curriculum for England, Key Stage 2 science, Year 4. Content: S1 identify how sounds are made, associating some of them with something vibrating, S2 recognise that vibrations from sounds travel through a medium to the ear, S3 find patterns between the pitch of a sound and features of the object that produced it, S4 find patterns between the volume of a sound and the strength of the vibrations that produced it, S5 recognise that sounds get fainter as the distance from the sound source increases.

Open Year 4 chapter

By the end of this chapter you will be able to

  • Say that sounds are made by things vibrating, and name what vibrates in some examples
  • Explain that vibrations travel through a solid, a liquid or a gas to the ear
  • Find the pattern between the length or thickness of an object and the pitch of its sound
  • Find the pattern between the size of a vibration and the loudness of a sound
  • Explain that sounds get fainter as you move further from the source
  • Use the table of results to answer questions about pitch, volume and distance

You should already know

  • Pushes, pulls and forces, and how a force can start something moving (Year 3 Science, Chapter 9)
  • Fair tests and measuring with a ruler (Year 4 Science, Chapter 1)

Where this leads

  • Electricity and circuits, which can make things produce sounds (Year 4 Science, Chapter 9)
  • Sound and vibrations in more detail, including how a sound wave travels (Year 6 Science)

Lessons in this chapter

  1. 8.1 How sounds are made
  2. 8.2 How vibrations travel to the ear
  3. 8.3 Pitch and the object that makes the sound
  4. 8.4 Volume and the strength of vibrations
  5. 8.5 Distance from the sound source
  6. Summary and key words
  7. Check-up and practice test questions

Read the whole chapter on one page (good for printing).