Sound Waves in Instruments Lab

3 Part Discovery Lab (Part A- Wine Glasses B- Glass Bottles C- Musical Straw)

Inquiry-based approach to teaching students how different objects naturally have different frequencies (resonant frequencies).My students loved being able to "explore" sound instead of just practicing wave vocab over and over. This lab focuses on how all sounds are produced by vibrations, how high pitched sounds are caused by fast vibrations ( and vice-versa) and how high pitched sounds are represented by high frequency waves. Students are required to draw the sound waves that are being produced in each resonant object as a formative check to see if they understand how the wave changes when you change the pitch.

Questions guide student thinking through how each of these objects (straw, wine glass, glass bottle) is producing sound and allows students to apply wave vocabulary via discussing, thinking about and drawing sound waves in an observational way.

Groups of 3-4 students work best. Check point boxes included in handout. Facilitator can ask each group member of the group one of the questions in each section before the group is allowed to move on to the next part.

Students will need to have a mastery of wave vocabulary (amplitude, wavelength, frequency, trough, crest) before completing this discovery lab.

Supplies Needed:

1-Wine Glass and Popsicle Stick to Resound the Glass Per Group
3- Different Size Glass Bottles Per Group (thrift stores have lots of cheap ones)
1- Straw Per Person In Class