Step 1 - Science - Energy and Forces (Sound insulating in 3rd Class)

3rd class have been learning all about sound. We learned how sound moves through vibrations passed along air molecules.  

We closed our eyes and listened carefully to all of the noises we could hear. After 1 minute we had to brain storm all of the sounds we could hear. It's amazing how many sounds you notice when you listen carefully! We could even hear dogs barking quite far away.

We explored how sound travels more easily through solids, as the air molecules are packed tightly together. We could hear the ruler vibrating off the table MUCH wore clearly when we put our ear to it! 

After discussing times when we may need to insulate sounds (like the walls of a music studio or a pair of ear protecting head phones) we began our experiment!

Each pair took two plastic cups to cover our ears and a number of possible insulating materials. We stuffed the cups with the same amount of each material and listened to our music speakers. After each test we scored the materials on a scale of 1-10 (10 meaning we could hear the music perfectly, 0 meaning we couldn't hear a sound). We even listened to the same song every time to ensure it was a very fair test! (Havana ooh-na-na is very catchy!) 

We found that Cotton Material was the best sound insulator. We think this is because cotton is good at absorbing things, and maybe that's why cotton is used in clothing, as it could also absorb sweat. 

We really enjoyed learning all about sound!

We will be showing this experiment at the Science Fair in April :) 

Step 1 - Science - Energy and Forces - Exploring creepy reflections & floating fingers in 3rd class

Today we carried out two exciting experiments.  

The first experiment investigated how our fingers can appear different when looking at their reflection in a mirror as the mirror is submerged in water. 

The second experiment involved investigating whether we could see another magical finger appear between the gap of our two fingers.