Year 4 · Sound and electricity

Sound, vibrations and simple circuits

Identify how sounds are made, associating some of them with something vibrating

20 minutes4 checks6 exit questionsNational curriculum objective

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Identify how sounds are made, associating some of them with something vibrating

Key learning points

• Sounds are vibrations
• Volume and pitch
• Building a circuit
• Conductors and insulators

This lesson at a glance

20 minutes
19 parts to scroll through
4 quick checks
No marked quiz yet
Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

soundsassociatingvibratingvibrationsvolume

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 19 · Discover5%

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 19

Watch first

Sound, vibrations and simple circuits

Feel how a vibration turns into a sound you can hear.

Do it for real

The practicals below use what the film shows, with a full method you can follow at home.

Bottles and bands: changing pitch and volume Conductor or insulator? Test ten things See a sound being made

In a nutshell

Identify how sounds are made, associating some of them with something vibrating

What you already know

Part 2 of 19

Before we start

What you already know

You know that sounds get quieter as you move away from them.

Key words

Part 3 of 19

Key words

Words you'll need today

vibration: A fast back-and-forth wobble.
pitch: How high or low a sound is.
circuit: A complete loop that electricity can flow around.

Learning cycle

Part 4 of 19

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Part 1 — Sound

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

Explore the idea

Part 5 of 19

Learn

Sounds are vibrations

Pluck an elastic band and you can see it shaking. That shaking pushes the air, the air pushes your eardrum, and your brain calls it a sound. Rest a finger on your throat while you hum and you can feel the vibration. Stop the vibration and the sound stops instantly.

Explore the idea

Part 6 of 19

Learn

Volume and pitch

Volume depends on how strong the vibration is: hit a drum harder and it vibrates further, so it is louder. Pitch depends on how fast something vibrates: a short, tight or thin string vibrates faster and gives a higher note. Sound also gets quieter the further it travels.

Quick check

Part 7 of 19

Quick check

Every sound is made by something...

Quick check

Part 8 of 19

Quick check

Hitting a drum harder makes the sound...

Reset break

Part 9 of 19

Pause

That's sitting 1 of 2 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now

Learning cycle

Part 10 of 19

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Part 2 — Electricity

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

Explore the idea

Part 11 of 19

Learn

Building a circuit

A simple series circuit needs a cell (battery), wires, and something to work — a bulb, buzzer or motor. A switch lets you break and remake the loop. If there is any gap anywhere, nothing works, because electricity needs a complete path back to the cell.

Explore the idea

Part 12 of 19

Learn

Conductors and insulators

Conductors let electricity through: copper, steel, aluminium — metals, mostly. Insulators do not: plastic, rubber, wood, glass. That is why a wire is metal inside and plastic outside. Test any object by putting it into a gap in your circuit and seeing if the bulb lights.

Quick check

Part 13 of 19

Quick check

A circuit needs to be...

Quick check

Part 14 of 19

Quick check

Which is an insulator?

Common mix-ups

Part 15 of 19

Common mix-ups

Things people often get wrong

Thinking louder means higher-pitched.
Believing a bulb will light with a gap in the circuit.
Thinking all shiny things are conductors.

Challenge round

Part 16 of 19

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

Challenge round

Part 17 of 19

Game · Fill the gaps

Finish the sentences

Choose the word that belongs in each gap.

____ depends on how strong the vibration is: hit a drum harder and it vibrates further, so it is louder.

Mastery quiz

Part 18 of 19

No quiz for this one

This lesson has no marked quiz attached yet.

Lesson round-up

Part 19 of 19

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

Quiz score

Not sat

Games

Not played

Points this lesson

Best run

0 in a row

Luna: 0 out of 4 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?

Ask Luna

Do the work

Your written work for this lesson

This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.

Case study

Why the school greenhouse failed

A science club grew tomato plants in the school greenhouse. In June the plants grew well: leaves were dark green and the fruit set quickly. In July the club went away for two weeks and left the greenhouse door shut. When they came back, the leaves were curled and pale and most of the fruit had dropped.

The club had a data logger inside. It showed the temperature reached 46 °C on several afternoons and the soil moisture fell close to zero. The club knew photosynthesis needs light, water and carbon dioxide, and that enzymes in a plant work best in a narrow range of temperature. Above that range the enzymes stop working properly.

The club repeated the summer with the door propped open and a water bottle drip on each pot. Temperature peaked at 31 °C and the plants survived.

Written for Good Learning Co.

Reading questions

Name the variable the club changed the second time, and one variable they kept the same.
Explain, using the words photosynthesis and enzymes, why the plants were damaged in July.
Write a conclusion for the club's report, saying how far the evidence supports it.

Method and results
Writing
Write the aim, what you changed, what you measured and what you kept the same, then record your results in a table.
1 page + results table
Conclusion
Writing
Explain what your results show and why, using the scientific words from the lesson. Say how you know you can trust them.
6–8 sentences
Labelled diagram
Diagram
Draw the apparatus or the process in pencil, label it fully, and photograph it.
1 labelled diagram
Reading and notes
Reading
Read the lesson text again and write the key ideas in your own words.
Half a page of notes

Write your answer, notes or working here

Saved as you type.

Photos of paper work, diagrams or working outHow many minutes did the written work take?

Part 1 of 19 · Watch & discover

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