This week, year 4 have been investigating factors that affect how sound travels. To find out what happens to sound over a distance, the children went outside and one partner chanted their times tables whilst the other gradually moved further away. The children confirmed their prediction that sound gets quieter the further away you are from the source. They explained that this happens because the sound waves spread out in the air and the vibration of the air particles continues to get smaller as it travels, until it eventually stops. They then used string telephones, which they had constructed, to investigate if sound travels better through a solid object. The children discovered that their partner’s voice sounded louder through the telephone compared to through the air. They concluded that sound must travel more easily because the solid particles are closer together allowing the vibration to be passed on more easily.
