See the idea. Put it to the test.

Find a practical

1. Science and Technology K–6 · Years 1–2

   High or low: the length of a vibrating string changes its pitch

   Shortening the part of a string that vibrates makes it vibrate faster and sound higher; halving the length raises the note by an octave.

   Practical, model not builtLow risk

2. Science and Technology K–6 · Years 1–2

   Loud and soft: more energy, bigger vibration

   Putting more energy into an object makes a bigger vibration and a louder sound, and a sound-level meter turns that into a number the class can compare with its own other readings.

   PracticalLow risk

3. Science and Technology K–6 · Years 1–2

   Muffling sound: which material blocks it best

   Sound passes through some materials more easily than others, and a fair test with a meter ranks them.

   PracticalLow risk

4. Science and Technology K–6 · Years 1–2

   See-through or not: sorting materials by how light passes

   Materials let most, some or none of the light through, and that property decides where they are used.

   PracticalLow risk

5. Science and Technology K–6 · Years 1–2

   Seeing sound: vibrations you can watch

   Every sound comes from something vibrating, and the vibration can be made visible.

   PracticalLow risk

6. Science and Technology K–6 · Years 1–2

   Shadows with a torch: size changes with distance

   A shadow forms where an object stops light; moving the object closer to the light makes the shadow bigger.

   Practical, model not builtLow risk

7. Science and Technology K–6 · Years 1–2

   String telephone: sound travelling along a string

   Sound travels through solids as well as air, and a tight string carries a voice further than the air around it.

   PracticalLow risk

8. Science and Technology K–6 · Year 2

   Tuned water bottles: how the amount of water changes the pitch

   Blowing across a bottle sets the air above the water vibrating, so more water shortens that air and raises the note, while tapping the same bottle sets the vessel and the water vibrating together, so more water lowers the note.

   Practical, model not builtLow risk

9. Science and Technology K–6 · Year 5

   Angle in equals angle out: the law of reflection on paper

   Light bounces off a flat mirror so that the angle it bounces off at equals the angle it arrived at, measured from a line at right angles to the mirror, which a torch beam and a protractor show directly.

   Practical, model not builtLow risk

10. Science and Technology K–6 · Year 5

    Light travels in straight lines: the three-card test

    Light travels in straight lines, so a torch is seen through three holes only when the holes line up, and a shadow has the shape of the object that stops the light.

    PracticalLow risk

11. Science and Technology K–6 · Year 5

    Pinhole camera: an upside-down image proves light goes straight

    Light from each point of a scene passes straight through a tiny hole and lands on the opposite side of the screen, so the image is inverted, and a ray diagram drawn to scale shows its size: halve the distance to the object and the image doubles.

    Practical, model not builtLow risk

12. Science and Technology K–6 · Year 5

    Shadow size: moving the object toward the torch

    A shadow grows when the object moves closer to a small light source and shrinks when it moves toward the screen, because the light travels in straight lines that spread out from the source.

    Practical, model not builtLow risk

13. Science and Technology K–6 · Year 5

    The bending pencil and the reappearing coin: refraction

    Light changes direction when it passes from air into water, so a straight pencil looks bent at the surface and a coin hidden by a cup's rim comes into view when water is poured in.

    Practical, model not builtLow risk