Parasaurolophus was a dinosaur from the

family Hadrosauridae. They lived during the Cretaceous period and

made really funny sounds!

56 curiositymachine.org/challenges/72/
Make a Parasaurolophous
Signal Horn
. . . to make low frequency sounds that travel across a football field!

Here’s what you low frequency

low pitch
need to know:

Frequency is how fast sound high frequency

high pitch
vibrates, and pitch is how we
hear frequency. Low frequencies
can travel longer distances than high frequencies. Loud sounds can also travel pretty far
because they have a lot of force.

Imagine how far a sound can travel when

it’s loud and has low frequency!

So, how can you build a parasaurolophous horn that makes sound that travels really far??
Parasaurolophus 57
 Parasaurolophus was a large unique-looking herbivorous (that means
plant-eating) dinosaur that lived during the Cretaceous period. This dinosaur
had a long crest on top of its head that curved toward its back.
Paleontologists think air could move through the crest and make
low sounds like a trombone!

Parasaurolophus probably traveled in large herds around the same time as

big meat eating dinosaurs like T. rex. If a T. rex was hungry, they had to watch out!

Scientists think that

Parasaurolophus could have made
loud, low frequency signals to
warn their friends that danger was Different crests, differe
Air flowing through the long,
near! Parasaurolophus was able nasal passage of Parasaurolophus (top left)
produce the low-pitched sou
to make these sounds by directing animals probably used to co
Corythosaurus (below left) h
shorter crest than Parasaurol
air through the long nasal passages crest probably also served to
ParasauroloPhus amplify sounds for communi
in its crest.
58 curiositymachine.org/challenges/72/
Have you ever heard these instruments?
Some instruments are better at making low pitch sounds than others. Write
whether you think each instrument makes a high pitch or a low pitch sound!

Hint:
The longe
ocarina trave r air
saxophone ls thr
ough
instru the
ment
pitch , t h e low
it will er
produ
ce!

tuba

whistle

recorder

didgeridoo

Parasaurolophus 59
Plan how to build your Parasaurolophus signal horn!
List all the materials you plan to use. There’s a few here to get
started. You should look for other things to use, and add them too!

straws
rubber bands
balloon

paper tube
cardboard

60 curiositymachine.org/challenges/72/
Draw your plan for a Parasaurolophus signal horn design here.
Label all the parts and how it will move so that everyone else can understand
your amazing plan!

Parasaurolophus 61
Start building!
If you have trouble getting started, here’s one way
to build a Parasaurolophus signal horn that can
make sounds that travel really far:

step 1: Find or make a tube that will be the

body of your signal horn.

step 2: Cut the round top off a balloon so

that it is open at both ends. Cover one end
of your tube with the cut end of the balloon.

step 3: Insert a straw to the other end of

the balloon. Make sure both balloon
attachments are tight so no air escapes.

62 curiositymachine.org/challenges/72/
 step 4: Test your design! Find a football
field or other big space and have a friend
stand at different yards lines as you blow
into the signal horn. How far does the sound
travel?

Parasaurolophus 63
How does it work?
Sometimes it takes a few tries to make a machine work like you want it to! If yours
doesn’t work the first time, try to find a way to make it better! Take notes on what
problems you had, or what worked really well.

64 curiositymachine.org/challenges/72/
Draw or take a picture of your finished Parasaurolophus signal horn
and put it here!

Parasaurolophus 65
Put your thinking cap on!
Reflect on what you’ve made! What can you change to make it work better? Did you learn
how to do something new? Here’s one question to get you started:

Different materials make very different sounds. Do you think that

making the tube of your signal horn from other materials will help the
sound travel farther?

66 curiositymachine.org/challenges/72/
There are animals living today that produce loud,
low-frequency sounds – even underwater! Baleen
whales make the loudest sounds of any animal living
today at super-low frequencies. Cool, right?

Parasaurolophus 67