This science center display explores water and sound.
To make this display, I used glass vases from a craft store ($0.99 each). I added liquid watercolor paint to a pitcher of water (you could also use food color
The reason I used the same color of water in each vase is so young children understand it is the amount of water in the vases that makes the sound different, not the color of the water. If you use a different color of water in each vase, young children could get confused and think the color of the water has something to do with the difference in sound.
Extend the Activity
To show children that sound is made by a vibration (in this case, a vibration of the water), try this additional sound vibration activity. Tie a piece of string to a metal spoon. Wrap the string around a child’s finger and have the child place their finger in their ear. Tap the spoon with another spoon as it is hanging (not touching anything else). The child may have to tilt their head a bit, so the string and spoon are not touching their body. Talk about how the vibration from your spoon tap traveled up the string to their ear.
Supplies
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Liquid watercolor paint can be purchased online at Discount School Supply, Dick Blick, or Amazon. I have used and can recommend Colorations and Sax brands. Liquid watercolor is an essential in my Pre-K classroom — it can be used for so many things!
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Great idea with young learners and a nice activity to use in music for cross curriculum
music/science.
Susan
Thanks Susan!
Thank you for the fun and great idea, although I don’t feel comfortable leaving preschoolers “banging” the glass vases with the wooden mallet to understand sound waves.
Thanks!
Ok, so supervise them. 🙂
I used a cheap glass fish bowl for 3 years as a Cat in the Hat prop in pretend play. It never broke. Then this year one of my kids dropped it on the carpet and it shattered: Glass everywhere! Guess what? No one died. The kids all froze and I told them to step back and they all stared at me and watched me carefully throw away the large shards in the trash can and then thoroughly vacuum the carpet. We talked about vacuuming in all directions to be sure to get all the glass up. The girl who dropped it started to cry and I got to explain that sometimes things break it’s OK. You don’t get punished for dropping something. She cheered up. We talked about where we could buy a new one, etc., etc. IT WAS A LESSON! Just like every other “accident” that happens in the pre-k classroom. They learn something from it. They actually learned a lot of things from it.
Love science with my students. Where did you purchase the glass tubes?
Hi, Those tubes came from Michaels. They are vases.
Can’t wait to try this with my preschool class!