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Sound Waves — Reading Comprehension

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This 4th-grade science passage explores the concept of sound energy, a key topic in the NGSS standards. Students will learn that sound is a form of energy created by vibrations, which travel in waves. The passage provides a simple definition of energy and explains how a tuning fork can be used to demonstrate how sound waves are created and transferred. This resource is designed to improve reading comprehension skills while teaching foundational science concepts. It aligns with the NGSS standard PS3.A, focusing on the definition of energy and its transfer.

CONTENT PREVIEW

What Are Sound Waves?

Sound waves are vibrations that travel through air and other materials. When something makes a sound, like a drum or your voice, it quickly pushes and pulls the air. This action creates invisible waves that move out in all directions. These sound waves carry energy from the source to your ears.

How Do Sound Waves Work?

A sound wave works a lot like a wave in a stadium. When people do the "wave," each person stands up and sits down, but they don’t move seats. The wave travels even though the people stay in place. In a sound wave, air molecules squeeze together in some places, called compressions, and spread apart in other places, called rarefactions. This push-and-pull pattern moves the sound through the air.

Parts of a Sound Wave

The wavelength is the distance between one wave peak and the next. Short wavelengths mean a high-pitched sound, like a whistle. Long wavelengths make low-pitched sounds, like a bass drum. The amplitude is how tall the wave is. Tall waves mean loud sounds. Short waves mean quiet sounds. The frequency is how many waves pass by each second, measured in Hertz (Hz). High frequencies are high-pitched; low frequencies are low-pitched.

Animals and Sound

Different animals hear different frequencies. Dogs can hear higher pitches than people. Elephants hear lower pitches that humans cannot hear. Bats and dolphins use echoes, or sound waves that bounce back, to find their way in the dark. This is called echolocation.

Seeing Sound Waves

You can see how sound waves move by using a slinky. Push one end and watch the waves travel along the coils. The slinky shows how compressions and rarefactions move, just like sound in the air.

Sound waves are like invisible dominos in the air—when you speak, you knock over the first domino and the waves keep moving until they reach someone’s ear!

Interesting Fact: Some whales can hear sounds from hundreds of kilometers away because sound travels well through water!

What is a vibration?

A quick back-and-forth movementA loud noiseA slow movementA type of animal

What do we call the part where air squeezes together?

CompressionRarefactionAmplitudeEcho

What does amplitude measure?

How loud a sound isWhat animal made itHow far it travelsHow high pitch is

If a sound has a short wavelength, what is its pitch?

High pitchLow pitchVery quietVery loud

Why do bats use echolocation?

To find food in the darkTo make loud noisesTo sleepTo run faster

What happens if you push a slinky?