Stop That Sound!

This week we continued to investigate our sound energy phenomenon. We tested our original hypotheses around how sound waves travel, how sound is absorbed or echoed and how sound travels best through certain materials. 

By using tuning forks and water we were able to see how sound waves travel and determined that the singer had to have a great amplitude in order for the sound waves to be carried to the glass and break it. Then we used what we knew about matter and connected it to our inquiry task through a close reading activity. Mrs. Parker and Mrs. Eaton helped to further illustrate the students' ideas around how sound moves by having them act out how they would move if they were solid, liquid, or gas molecules. This activity lead us to the conclusion that the glass had to be empty for Jaime to break it. If it had water in it, the students thought that he would have to be at a much higher pitch or it might not have even broken at all.

Lastly, we thought about how sound is echoed or absorbed and tested an iPad sound generator in three different conditions: empty box open with lid off, empty box closed with top on, and a box with the generator wrapped in a material of the groups' choosing. All of the students chose to wrap their generator with cotton batting because they predicted that the sound molecules would have a harder time moving through the thick absorbent material. Their data was conclusive with this hypothesis and the decibel readings were all considerably lower when the batting was blocking the sound. This lead the scientists to want to watch Jaime again and they decided that he was able to break the glass even when he was behind a glass because it is a solid and the vibrations were still able to echo off of the material and break the glass. They wondered if he would've been able to break the glass if it had been covered in cotton!

Next week we will conclude our investigation and use our observations, new learning, and data to write a strong conclusion as to how this breaking glass phenomenon is scientifically possible. 

Stay tuned!