All about sounds Chapter Notes | Year 2 English IGCSE (Cambridge) - Class 2 PDF Download

Introduction to Sounds

Listening to Sounds

• Close your eyes and listen. What do you hear?
• Sounds are all around us all the time.
• Some sounds are loud and unpleasant, like traffic, which we call noise.
• Sounds made by instruments, like a piano or a ukulele, are called notes.
• Lots of notes together make music.

Types of Sounds

• Noise
  • Loud and unpleasant sounds.
  • Example: Traffic noise.
• Notes and Music
  • Sounds made by musical instruments.
  • Example: Notes from a piano or a ukulele.
• Onomatopoeia
  • Words that sound like the sounds they describe.
  • Examples: Fireworks go "boom," popcorn "pops," bells "dingling."

How Sounds are Made

Vibrations

• All sounds are made through vibrations.
• When something vibrates, it moves back and forth really fast.
• Our eyes often can't see vibrations, but our ears can sense them.

How Sound Travels

• Air Particles
  • The air is made up of tiny particles.
  • These particles carry sound.
• Sound Waves
  • Vibrations from a sound source (like a bell) shake the air particles.
  • These particles bump into the particles next to them, passing the vibration along like a wave.
  • Example: Rolling a marble into a group of marbles to demonstrate how particles move.

How We Hear Sounds

Inside Our Ears

• There is a part of our ear that looks like the top of a drum.
• Sound waves make this part of our ear vibrate.
• The vibrations move deeper into our ear, sending a message to our brain that says, "Hey, we're hearing something."

Making Your Own Vibrations

• DIY Musical Instrument
  • Materials: An empty can (like a coffee can) and a rubber band.
  • Stretch the rubber band over the top of the can.
  • Pluck the rubber band gently to make a sound.
  • If you look closely, you can see the rubber band moving back and forth, creating vibrations.
• Experimenting with Sounds
  • Gently plucking the rubber band makes a soft sound.
  • Pulling the rubber band harder makes a louder sound.
  • Stopping the rubber band from vibrating stops the sound.

Examples and Activities

• Listening Activity: Close your eyes and identify different sounds around you. Are they noise, notes, or onomatopoeic sounds?
• Marble Experiment: Use marbles to show how particles in the air move to carry sound. Roll a marble into a group of marbles and watch them move.
• DIY Instrument: Make your own rubber band instrument and experiment with different sounds by plucking the rubber band gently or harder.

Conclusion

Understanding Vibrations

• Whenever you hear a sound, something is vibrating.
• These vibrations travel through the air and into your ears.