Listening to Sound

What sounds do you hear in your classroom? Maybe your teacher talking,
or chairs moving. Sound is a vibration in the air. When those vibrations
reach your ear, you are able to hear the sound. Sound waves must travel
through a medium such as air and water because these vibrations are
passed from particle to particle.

My lesson objective is to listen to the difference in the pitch of the sound

made by air columns of different heights.

Scientific Question
How does the height of the air column in the test tubes affect the pitch of
sound?
Independent variable (what I will change) The height of the water.
Dependent variable (what I will observe) I will listen to the change of pitch.

Control variables (what I will keep the same)

Prediction
Do you think the pitch will increase or decrease when there is more air in
the test tube?

Materials
1. board
2. 4 graduated test tubes
3. dropper
4. zip ribbon
5. bowl
6. water

Procedure
1. The board has 8 holes. The side with
the label is the front side of the board.
2. Insert the zip ribbon from the back of
the board.
 3. Make a loop of zip ribbon and put the test tube inside the loop. Tie the
test tube tightly.
4. Repeat step 3 to fix the remaining test tubes.
5. Fill the bowl with water.
6. Fill the test tubes with water from the bowl using the dropper as per the
following table. Colored water may be used.

Test tubes Volume of water

(mL)
1st test tube 0
2nd test tube 2
3rd test tube 5
4th test tube 8

7. Blow into all the

test tubes one after
another. Listen to
the sound carefully to hear the variations
in the pitch.

Results
Volume of Water (mL) Pitch – give a score of P1 to P4
(P1 = lowest pitch; P4 = highest pitch)
0
2
5
8

Questions
1. What is the other word for pitch?
2. Which test tube had the highest pitch? Can you explain why?
Extra Challenge
3. Can you find a musical instrument or tuning forks in your school and
identify the musical notes you made?