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How far can a whisper travel?
Waves of Sound Unit | Lesson 2 of 4

How far can a whisper travel?

Waves of Sound Unit | Lesson 2 of 4
Lesson narration:
Scroll for prep
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DISCUSS (1 of 2): Put your hand over your throat and make some sound. What do you notice?

DISCUSS (2 of 2): What do you think sound is?

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DISCUSS: What kind of experiments could we do to figure out more about what sound is?

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Paper cup telegraph — Our Ideas

We gave one idea away in the title! The telegraph invented by Samuel Morse uses Morse code to communicate with two sounds — dots and dashes. Can you make two sounds that your friend can tell apart through the long string? If you can, you can communicate with Morse code. Learn more about Morse code here.

Here’s another idea. You can communicate using a tap code, like this one. Using this code, a pattern of taps can be translated into letters.

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vibration


1 of 5

a quick movement back and forth
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sound


2 of 5

vibrations that you can usually hear with your ears
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echo


3 of 5

a sound that bounces off a surface and travels back to someone's ears
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experiment


4 of 5

a test used to discover new information about a question
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model


5 of 5

a pretend version of something that scientists use when the real thing is too big, small, or complicated to work with
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Image & Video Credits

Mystery Science respects the intellectual property rights of the owners of visual assets. We make every effort to use images and videos under appropriate licenses from the owner or by reaching out to the owner to get explicit permission. If you are the owner of a visual and believe we are using it without permission, please contact us—we will reply promptly and make things right.

Exploration
unit: siblings whispering by wong sze yuen
echo "hello" by © Jojikiba , used under CC BY-SA
graffiti tunnel by jmiller291 , used under CC BY-SA
"awesome echo" by Emma Koi
boy yelling in forest by Zurijeta
Zac by Ric Moxley
grand canyon at sunrise by sumikophoto
Zac's echo in the grand canyon by Ric Moxley
group of friends by aslysun
two people whispering by sezer66
slo mo drum by The Chernett Family
Speaker Vibrations affect Objects by BluePigProductions: Eric van der Aar
cups vibrating from speakers by ReggieErf
Activity
graphic pencil by JohannPoufPouf , used under Public Domain
kitten by Okssi
seagull by CocoParisienne , used under Public Domain
two differently sized cups by Maistrenko Ihor
Lesson narration:

Grade 4

Sound, Waves, & Communication

Sound, Vibration, & Engineering

4-PS4-1, 3-5-ETS1-2

Activity Prep

Print Prep

In this lesson, students learn about the connection between sounds and vibration. In the activity, Paper Cup Telephone, students make telephones using cups and string. Students then modify the design of their telephones using different types of supplies to see if they can improve the sound quality.

Preview activity

Exploration

10 mins

Grade 4

Sound, Waves, & Communication

Sound, Vibration, & Engineering

4-PS4-1, 3-5-ETS1-2

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