For the past two week we have been learning about sound. We did three rotations around the teachers, we had two days with each teacher and each teacher taught us something different about sound and hearing. On the first day we would learn and on the second day we would do some experiments connected to sound.
The Ear
My groups first rotation was with Whaea Emma. We started with a game that taught us some stuff about how our ears work. One person would sit in the middle of a circle blindfolded and some people would say their name, then the person in the middle would have to guess where the person who called out their name was sitting. The further into the game we got the harder it got for the person in the middle because after a while they would have to cover one ear which made it harder for the ears to work. After that they would have to cover both ears which made it really hard, that taught us how important our ears are.
After that we had to label a diagram of your ear. The parts of your ears are The Pinna, Temporal Bone, Hammer, Anvil, Stirrup, Nerve, Cochlea, Eardrum and Eustachian Tube. On the second day we did an experiment. To do the experiment we needed a paper cup, plastic wrap, a rubber band and some raw rice. We made the paper cup, plastic wrap and rubber band into an eardrum, then we added some rice on the top and played an instrument over top. The rice represented sound hitting the eardrum and when we played the instrument over top, the rice made the eardrum vibrate like it does in your ear.
Hearing Sound
My Second rotation was with Urmi, we learnt about hearing sound. We learnt about the different types of sound like high and low pitch and soft and loud volume. We also learnt about onomatopoeia. That is when a sound is the same as a word like “Pop” or “Bang”. On the second day we made a harmonica. To make it you need two ice block sticks, One big rubber band, Two small rubber bands and two 5cm pieces of plastic straws. Once we put them together it made a harmonica. Everybody chose a tune to make using the harmonica I chose Jingle Bells.
How Sound Travels
My last rotation was with Nigel, we learnt about how sound travels. First we put all the steps into order of how sound travels into your ear. The way sound travels is that the particles that the sound has touched hit heaps of other particles until some of them go into your ear. After that Nigel showed us an experiment using a tuning fork and some water. He hit the tuning fork on the edge of then table and then lightly touched the water with it, after it touched the water the vibrations made a big splash. He also showed us how to do some more cool stuff like cup phones and spoon experiments.