We scratched a ruler at a point 13″ from our ears, once with the ruler 1″ away and once with the ruler 12″ away. We found that we could hear the sound better when carried through the ruler than through the air.
We clicked two rocks against each other in and out of water. We found that the clicking sound was louder under the water.
We hung Cheerios from a hanger and plucked a rubber band near them. The cereal moved due to the vibrations moving through the air.
We used a piece of rope to demonstrate transverse waves.
We struck a fork on the table and listened to the sound it made.
We whispered into different lengths of straws to hear how the sounds changed based on length.
We felt the sides of our throats while humming to feel the vibrations our bodies make when we talk.
We listened to the sound a rope makes when plucked.
We put music on very loud and held a balloon near the speaker. The vibrations coming from the speaker made the balloon vibrate, too.
We clapped our hands gently and then vigorously and observed how the sound we made was different.
We made a megaphone with a piece of construction paper. We could direct our voices in whatever direction we pointed it.
We put different amounts of water in soda bottles and blew across the tops to see what different sounds were made.
Cameron blew across the top of an empty soda bottle while the little guys held up matching bottles to their ears to see if they could hear a sound that would indicate the bottles were in resonance.
We cut a spiral and balanced it on a pencil.
We put clay in a half eggshell and stuck a straw into the clay and threaded an index card on the straw. We could push the straw over, but it would always balance to being upright again.
We used paperclips to balance a “parrot” on a hanger.
We balanced critters on a tightrope by using pennies to properly weight them.
We used Warheads and toothpicks to make geometric shapes.