Three key properties of sound are of particular interest to primary scientists
1 Sound travels from a vibrating source through a medium:
2. Sound can vary in loudness, pitch and timbre,
3. Sound can be detected by our ears.
Teaching Concepts
Click on each concept to see Subject facts, Why you need to know these, Vocabulary, Amazing facts, Common misconceptions, Questions and Teaching Ideas
It is important to be aware of how these concepts can be developed in teaching. The following is one way in which the progression can be described. It goes up to Key Stage 3, because it is necessary to know where the children will be going next.To demonstrate your own understanding of the concepts, it is useful to produce your own concept chain.
There are many different sounds around us. Every sound has a source. As you move further from the source of a sound, it gets quieter Sounds can be made in different ways (for example, by hitting shakng, scraping, blowing or plucking a musical instrument). We hear sounds using our ears.
Sound traveis through the air, Vibrating objects are the sources of sounds. A sound can be made louder by making the object vibrate more, Some objects can be made to vibrate faster or säower in order to make the note they produce higher or lower There are various ways of changing the rate at which an object vbrates. Sound vibrations can travel through many different materials, Sound can travel through some materia!s better than others. Sound may be reflected (echo) from hard. so*id objects.
Sound cannot trave.l through empty space (a vacuum). The greater the amp'itude of a vibration, the louder the sound it causes. The higher the frequency of a vibration* the higher the pitch oft-he note it produces. The ear has different parts which combine to enable us to detect sounds. Each person has a unique range and quality of hearing. Hearing can be damaged (either temporarily or permanently) by loud noises. Technology is available to repair or improve same forms of hearing deficiences, Sound penetrates some materials and is reflected from others. Reflected sound can be used tb detect the position and shape of a sofid object (sonar, u!trasound).