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Science lesson plan · 1st grade (Year 2 in England) · 60 minutes

Sound can make things vibrate

Light, sound and waves

CCSS NGSS.1-PS4-1England: KS2 Y4 Sound

Objective and success criteria

Students will: Sound can make things vibrate.

  • I can answer questions on today's skill on my own, without help.
  • I can explain each step and say why it works.
  • I can check my answer and spot a mistake.

Before and after

Needs first: Find the part that vibrates to make the sound

Leads to: the next skill in this area.

Materials: Slinky or rope, Mirrors and torches, Mini whiteboards, A diagram or short video clip of the idea, Printed student sheet (below).

Warm-up · 6 min

  • Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Find the part that vibrates to make the sound). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
  • Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
  1. What vibrates to make the sound of a buzzing bee? (the cone at the front / the air inside the tube / the strings / its wings) → its wingsPrompt: Which part moves back and forth when the sound is made?
  2. You pluck a guitar string and then touch it to stop it moving. What happens to the sound? (It gets louder. / Nothing changes. / It gets higher. / It stops.) → It stops.Prompt: What makes the sound in the first place?
  3. True or false? All sounds are made by something vibrating. (True / False) → TruePrompt: What is happening to the object when a sound is made?

Hook · 6 min

  • Ask the class to make a wave with a rope or slinky and describe what moves and what doesn't.
  • Share the objective: Sound can make things vibrate. Read the success criteria together.

I do: model it · 12 min

  • Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
  • Example: A tuning fork is struck and then dipped into a bowl of water. What do you see?
  • Step 1: The vibrating fork shakes the water, showing that sound is vibration.
  • Step 2: So the answer is: The water splashes and ripples.
  • Answer: The water splashes and ripples.
  • Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

We do: guided practice · 12 min

  • Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
  • Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
  1. A tuning fork is struck and then dipped into a bowl of water. What do you see? (The water turns blue. / Nothing happens. / The water splashes and ripples. / The water freezes.) → The water splashes and ripples.Prompt: The fork is vibrating even if you cannot see it.
  2. True or false? Loud sounds can make objects nearby vibrate. (True / False) → TruePrompt: How does sound get from one place to another?

You do: independent practice · 17 min

  • Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
  • Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 8 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

Exit ticket · 7 min

  • Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
  1. You stretch cling film over a bowl and put salt on it. How can you make the salt dance without touching the bowl? (Make a loud sound close to it. / Whisper far away. / Cool the bowl in the fridge. / Turn off the lights.) → Make a loud sound close to it.Prompt: Which would send the biggest vibrations through the air?
  2. Sound and vibration: which statement is true? (A string telephone works best with the string loose and floppy. / Sound can only travel through air. / A string telephone works because vibrations travel along the string. / Rice on a drum jumps because of the light in the room.) → A string telephone works because vibrations travel along the string.Prompt: Sound is a shaking that passes from thing to thing.

Watch out for

  • Everyday meanings of words getting in the way of the science meaning: define key words explicitly.
  • Remembering facts without the reason: ask "why?" and "what is the evidence?"

Support and stretch

Support

  • Review first: Find the part that vibrates to make the sound.
  • Use concrete materials: slinky or rope.
  • Give the first step of each question, or a partly worked example to finish.
  • Pair with a confident partner for the guided practice.

Stretch

  • Explain a common mistake in writing and how to fix it.
  • Write a word problem that uses today's skill, then solve a partner's.

Homework and more practice

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-1.

Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder

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Sound can make things vibrate

Name

Date

Score/ 8

  1. Question 1

    A tuning fork is struck and then dipped into a bowl of water. What do you see?

    • A. The water splashes and ripples.
    • B. The water turns blue.
    • C. Nothing happens.
    • D. The water freezes.

  2. Question 2

    Sound and vibration: which statement is true?

    • A. A string telephone works because vibrations travel along the string.
    • B. Sound can only travel through air.
    • C. Rice on a drum jumps because of the light in the room.
    • D. A string telephone works best with the string loose and floppy.

  3. Question 3

    True or false? We hear because sound makes parts inside our ears vibrate.

    • A. True
    • B. False

  4. Question 4

    True or false? Sound is a kind of light.

    • A. True
    • B. False

  5. Question 5

    You stretch cling film over a bowl and put salt on it. How can you make the salt dance without touching the bowl?

    • A. Make a loud sound close to it.
    • B. Whisper far away.
    • C. Turn off the lights.
    • D. Cool the bowl in the fridge.

  6. Question 6

    True or false? Only things you touch can be made to vibrate.

    • A. True
    • B. False

  7. Question 7

    Rice grains are sprinkled on a drum. Someone bangs a big pan next to it. Why do the grains jump?

    • A. The pan blew air at the rice.
    • B. The rice is hungry.
    • C. The sound from the pan makes the drum skin vibrate.
    • D. The rice makes its own sound.

  8. Question 8

    True or false? Sound travels from its source as vibrations.

    • A. True
    • B. False

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Answer key: Sound can make things vibrate

  1. 1. A. The water splashes and ripples.

  2. 2. A. A string telephone works because vibrations travel along the string.

  3. 3. A. True

  4. 4. B. False

  5. 5. A. Make a loud sound close to it.

  6. 6. B. False

  7. 7. C. The sound from the pan makes the drum skin vibrate.

  8. 8. A. True