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Primary Science · Year 4Chapter 8 · Sound
Year 4 Science · Sound · Lesson 8.1

Year 4 Science: How sounds are made

Part of the Year 4 Science sound chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page

8.1

How sounds are made

Year 4
S1: identify how sounds are made, associating some of them with something vibrating
Story. Mo taps a drum with his hand. “Where does the sound come from?” he asks. Ms Chen puts her fingers lightly on the drum. “Feel that? The skin of the drum is shaking. That shaking is what makes the sound.”

Every sound is made by something vibrating. A vibration is a quick back-and-forth movement. When an object vibrates, it makes the air around it vibrate too, and the vibrations spread out as sound.

A sound stops when the vibrating object stops. Some vibrations are too small to see, but you can often feel them with your fingertips.

Plucked bandVibrating bandband at rest: no soundback and forth: sound
A rubber band over a box. At rest it makes no sound. When it swings back and forth, it vibrates and makes a sound.

The table gives four examples of sound-makers, and the thing that vibrates in each one.

Sound-makerWhat is vibrating
a drumthe skin of the drum
a guitar stringthe string
a person speakingthe voice box, in the throat
a ruler held on a table edgethe end of the ruler

Key ideas

  • Sounds are made by things vibrating.
  • A vibration is a quick back-and-forth movement.
  • A still object that is not vibrating does not make a sound.
  • You can often feel a vibrating object with your fingertips.
Worked example 8.1.1
In a drum, what is vibrating to make the sound? Write the words.

Method. Read the table in section 8.1.

  1. Find the drum row. The drum row says the skin of the drum is what vibrates.
    drum
  2. Name the vibrating part. So the skin of the drum is the thing that vibrates.
    the skin of the drum
  3. Write the answer.
    the skin of the drum

Check. Feel the drum skin while it sounds. ✓

Worked example 8.1.2
Is a sound made when an object is still? Write yes or no.

Method. Think about what makes a sound.

  1. Think about vibrations. A sound needs a vibrating object.
    vibrating
  2. Decide. A still object is not vibrating, so it makes no sound.
    no
  3. Write the answer.
    no

Check. Only vibrating objects make sounds. ✓

Worked example 8.1.3
When you speak, which part of the body vibrates? Write the words.

Method. Read the table in section 8.1.

  1. Find the speaking row. The speaking row says the voice box, in the throat.
    voice box
  2. Name the part. So the voice box in the throat is what vibrates.
    voice box
  3. Write the answer.
    the voice box, in the throat

Check. Put your fingers on your throat as you hum. ✓

Watch out

Watch out: the object that vibrates is not always the same as the thing you hear. The guitar string vibrates, and the body of the guitar vibrates too, so the sound is louder.

Try it at home or school (with a grown-up). Hold a ruler on the edge of a table with a grown-up. Press one end down, and pull the other end back. Let go and feel the ruler shake. Keep your fingers away from the moving end.

Exam tip

Grown-up tip. Ask: “What is moving when you hear the sound? Can you feel it?” Let your child touch a drum or a ruler and say what they feel.

Exercise 8A  How sounds are made

1
FWrite the word for the quick back-and-forth movement that makes a sound.
2
FFill in the gap: sounds are made by ___ objects. Write the word.
3
FWhat vibrates in a guitar when it makes a sound? Write the word: string or box.
4
FWhen a person speaks, what vibrates in the throat? Write the words.
5
FDoes a still object that is not vibrating make a sound? Write yes or no.
6
FWhich of these makes a sound by vibrating: a ruler on the edge of a table, or a rock sitting still? Write the word: ruler or rock.
7
FIn the table in section 8.1, what vibrates when a ruler is held on a table edge? Write the words.
8
PSRuby says a sound is made when nothing moves. Is Ruby right? Write yes or no.
9
PSAli holds a rubber band and plucks it. What is vibrating? Write the words.
10
PSWorking scientifically. Predict what happens to the sound of a drum if you hold your hand firmly on its skin. Write one prediction with a reason.
11
RExplain how a sound is made, in one sentence.

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