Student’s name: ________________ Class: ___

Science
Grade 4
Unit 1
A Lot of Sound

Page 1 Block 1 Unit 1: Sound

 1. Sound is a vibration

How is sound produced?

Sound is produced by vibrations.

What vibrates to make sound in different

objects?
In the guitar, strings vibrate to make sound.

In wind instruments e.g. in a flute the air column vibrates to make
Sound.

When you whistle, the air between your lips vibrates to make sound.

2. Sound needs a medium to travel through

Solid (string) Liquid (water) Gas

(air)

Medium (pl. media) is made up of particles.

Particles: are small parts of the matter.

Page 2 Block 1 Unit 1: Sound

The medium can be

Solid Liquid Gas

Sound travels through solids faster than liquids, and it travels through
liquids faster than gases.

WHY?
Because solid particles are closer to each other than liquid and gas
particles this helps the vibrations to take less time to travel.

How sound vibrations travel in the medium?

The sound travel in the medium by vibrating the particles of the

medium.

See the link

http://i.imgur.com/7ihsGHx.gif

Page 3 Block 1 Unit 1: Sound

What if there are no particle? Can sound travel?

NO!!
When there are no particles scientists call this vacuum.

Sound can’t travel in vacuum!!

Example:

In space sound can’t space because the space is

vacuum (has no particle).

In space astronauts use radio waves to communicate

in space because radio waves don’t need particles
(medium) to travel.

String phones
You can make a string phone using two cups and a
string.
If your friend speaks through the first cup, you can
hear the sound if you put the second cup next to
your ear.
The string has to be tight enough to hear a clear
sound.

How does sound travel through string phones?

Air → 1st cup → string → 2nd cup → Ear

Page 4 Block 1 Unit 1: Sound

Is the speed of the sound the same in all solid
materials? Explain your answer!!!
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3. Measuring sounds

How can we measure the volume of sound?

The equipment we use to measure volume of sound is
Sound meter OR Sound sensor.

The unit for measuring sound is decibels.

Sound sensor

Quiet and loud sounds

Sounds vary from very quiet sounds to very loud sounds that can be
dangerous to our ears.

Very quiet sounds that you can hardly hear like: sound of leaves falling
on the ground.

Quiet sounds like: clicking on a key board, a clock ticking, or tapping

with your fingers on a desk.

Loud sounds: like loud music or fast wind

Very loud sounds may harm our ears like: close fireworks or a close jet
plane.

Page 5 Block 1 Unit 1: Sound

 4. Ear defenders

How can we protect our ears from very loud and dangerous
sounds?
To protect our ears from dangerous sounds we have to cover our ears
with ear defenders like ear muffs.

Ear defenders are devices that are used mainly by

workers who work in noisy environments.

Ear defenders must be made of a good sound

insulator material.

Good sound insulators: are the materials that can stop the travelling of
the sound. They have air pockets which sound travel less effectively and
slowly through.

Example: bubble wrap

The air in the bubble wrap makes it a

good sound insulator.

Poor sound insulator can let sound vibrations travel easily through it.

Example: block of steel

Page 6 Block 1 Unit 1: Sound