Acoustical Society of America
Musical Instruments: Part I
Pupils construct and play various musical instruments made from straws and bottles. They investigate how changes in their instruments result in tone changes. Learners change the lengths and amount of water in the instruments and record...
Acoustical Society of America
Musical Instruments: Part II
String together how instruments produce sound. Using pieces of string, learners find ways to create sound. They investigate changes to the string and the effect of adding a cup. Finally, pupils experiment by changing the way to create...
Exploratorium
Groovy Sounds
Make music. Class members construct a simple record player using a paper cone and a pin. The resource provides a description of what is happening and why listeners can hear the sounds through the cone.
Curated OER
The Physics of Sports: An 8th Grade Physical Science Project
Explore the relationship between sports and physics in a cross-curricular lesson. Middle and high schoolers prepare a multimedia presentation based on a chosen sport. They answer five physics vocabulary questions about how the laws of...
Virginia Department of Education
Sound
Add a little music to your next physics class. Pupils discuss how frequency determines pitch and take part in several activities designed to teach them more about sound, melody, resonance, and vibrations. They use materials to construct...
Acoustical Society of America
Musical Instruments
Mix it up and engage learners in a lesson on music and physical science. Using cups, strings, guitars, and voice, the class will experiment with sound vibration and frequency. They'll use each instrument and fill out a worksheet that...
Acoustical Society of America
Generalizing How Musical Instruments Work
Sound, vibrations, resonance, and frequency are explored as learners use music to foster scientific inquiry. They engage in three different sound experiments and follow up discussions to foster a better understanding of how musical...
Acoustical Society of America
Musical Instruments Part I - Woodwinds
What is the connection between sound and vibration? Learners find out as they conduct a series of experiments with instruments they create. The experiment is well explained, includes modifications for visuall and hearing impaired...
California Department of Education
Slap Tubes, Flutes, and Xylophones: The Physics of Pipe-Based Instruments
It's the encore to a wave unit. Individuals build either a slap tube, flute, or xylophone as a culminating activity for a physics unit on waves. Scholars calculate the lengths of pipes needed to produce the specific notes for their...
IOP Institute of Physics
Physics in Concert
What do physicists and musicians have in common? A lot more than you might think. After first viewing a slide show presentation and completing a series of skills practice worksheets on the physics of light, sound, and electricity, young...
Curated OER
The Halls are Alive with the Sound of Music
Students discuss physical places in which had good or bad acoustics. After reading an article, they discover the relationship between the physics of sound and concert hall acoustics. They calculate the speed of sound and compare their...
Physics Classroom
Name That Harmonic: Open-End air Columns
Ever wonder what really goes on inside a clarinet? Show your young scientists the physics of open-end air columns through an easy-to-use interactive. Learners examine the features of standing waves and calculate frequency and length in a...
It's About Time
Sounds in Strings
How many of your pupils play an instrument? A musical science lesson will help all of them understand how string instruments work. Young scientists construct a string-and-pulley system to test frequency and pitch. The lesson ends with a...
It's About Time
Sounds from Vibrating Air
Take note, or notes, as the case may be. A scientific music lesson is the third in a set of eight covering waves and instruments. Scholars use straws, test tubes, and water to create various wind instruments. Then, they read and answer...
Physics Classroom
Name That Harmonic: Closed-End air Columns
Physics is like music—practice makes perfect! Challenge your class using an interactive that builds harmonic skills. The engaging lesson from a playlist exploring sounds and waves revolves around wave behavior in closed-end air columns....
Physics Classroom
Name That Harmonic: Strings
Don't string your class along! Physics scholars discover the fascinating forces behind the music of stringed instruments using an interactive. From a series covering sounds and waves, the interactive asks users to identify nodes and...
Curated OER
Building Polymer Cup Speakers
Students investigate sound waves and they build audio speakers. In this audio speakers and sound lesson, students explore how to make quality audio speakers. As a team they build their own speakers to have clarity in sound, quality in...
Curated OER
The Cigar Box Guitar
Students correlate string tension with sound pitch. They describe how string mass (thickness) effects sound pitch and demonstrate an understanding of the physics of the acoustic guitar. They see that sound is produced by vibrations.
Curated OER
Wind Chimes
Young scholars construct wind chimes using physics. In small groups they design and create wind chimes using a specific weights, number of notes, and keeping the cost under ten dollars.
Curated OER
Antarctic Jukebox
In this environment worksheet, high schoolers read an excerpt about Antarctica, including the many challenges explorers face. Then they imagine that they are a sound recordist in Antarctica and record 3 CDs. Students look at the images...
Curated OER
Electronic Components
Students describe how resistors affect the flow of electricity. In this electronics lesson students examine transistors and what they do and how they work.
Curated OER
Electronic Components
Students review new terminology and computer circuits and the value of a resistor. They complete three experiments, "Resistance Activities," Transistor Activities,"Diode Activities" and enter data, results and their findings on Student...