Lesson 29 of 84 · Engineering and Design
Experiment⭐ 30 XP🛠️ Engineer ShopSound Waves and Vibrations (Part 2)
Engineering and Design.
🎯 Your mission
Run the experiment. Find out what really happens.
⚡ The twist
The first design always fails. That's the point.
Mind = Blown
🚀 The Saturn V rocket burned 20 tons of fuel per second at liftoff.
Make a hypothesis first
Guess: what's the weakest part of this build?
What You'll Learn
Waves transfer energy without transferring matter. Transverse waves (like light) vibrate perpendicular to the direction of travel. Longitudinal waves (like sound) vibrate parallel.
Key Words
- observation
- experiment
- conclusion
Materials Needed
- plastic wrap
- cardboard
- tape
- scissors
Safety First
- Keep small objects away from young children.
Steps
Look at the vocabulary words and write a definition for each in your own words.
Build a working anemometer using paper cups and straws. Calibrate it by counting rotations in a known wind speed.
Note any unexpected results and think about why they happened.
Share your findings with the class or a partner and discuss what you learned.
Check Your Understanding
Question 1
1 of 3What is the electromagnetic spectrum?
Where you see this in real life
Every bridge, building, and gadget you've ever used started with this.
Stretch Challenge
Try this in real life this week.
Find something that's broken at home and try to figure out *why* it broke.
For the dinner table
“What's something around the house you'd redesign — and how?”
Next Smart Experiment
We'll pick an experiment that matches exactly how you're thinking right now.
Share this experiment
Send it to a parent who's looking for a 10-minute kitchen science win.
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