Year 1 · Science · Physical sciences
Making sounds
Children discover that sounds are made when things vibrate, and explore loud, soft, high and low sounds with simple home instruments.
Awaiting educator review. This material was drafted by our content team with AI assistance and is waiting for review by a qualified educator. Please check it suits your child before using it. Created 10 October 2026.
Learning goals
Learners will
- Explain that sounds are made when something vibrates (shakes quickly).
- Make loud and soft sounds and high and low sounds.
Success looks like
- I can feel or see something vibrating when it makes a sound.
- I can make a sound louder or softer.
- I can make a high sound and a low sound.
The big idea
Sound is made when something vibrates. That means it shakes back and forth very quickly.
Put your hand gently on your throat and hum. You can feel your throat vibrating.
When you hit a drum, the top of the drum vibrates. We can see this by putting a few grains of rice on a drum made from a bowl and cling wrap: the rice jumps when we tap it.
A hard hit makes a loud sound. A gentle tap makes a soft sound.
Sounds can be high or low. This is called pitch. A thin, tight rubber band makes a higher sound than a thick, loose one.
Our ears catch sounds so we can hear them. Very loud sounds can hurt our ears, so we keep sounds at a safe level.
Worked examples
Dancing rice
How can we see that a drum vibrates?
- Stretch cling wrap tightly over a bowl.
- Sprinkle a few grains of rice on top.
- Tap the saucepan loudly next to the bowl, or tap the cling wrap gently.
- Watch the rice jump. The cling wrap is vibrating.
Answer: The rice jumps because the drum skin vibrates.
Rubber band guitar
Which rubber band makes the higher sound?
- Stretch a thin band and a thick band around an open box.
- Pluck each one.
- Listen: the thin band sounds higher.
Answer: The thin rubber band makes the higher sound.
Practice check
Have a go, then check your answers. Each answer comes with an explanation.
Answer guide for parents
Sounds are made when something…
Vibrates — All sounds are made by vibrations.
How can you make a drum sound louder?
Hit it harder — A harder hit makes bigger vibrations and a louder sound.
Which part of your body do we use to hear?
Ears — We hear with our ears.
Which rubber band makes a higher sound?
A thin, tight band — Thin, tight bands vibrate faster and make higher sounds.
A kookaburra's laugh is easy to hear from far away. Is it…
Loud — A sound that is easy to hear from far away is loud.
Put your hand on your throat and hum. What do you feel your throat do?
vibrate — Your throat vibrates when you hum or talk.
A whisper is not loud. It is s___.
soft — A whisper is a soft (quiet) sound.
How high or low a sound is has a special name. What is it?
pitch — Pitch is how high or low a sound is.
Watch out for
- Children may think loud means high. Loudness and pitch are different: a low sound can be loud.
- Some children think sound comes only from people or instruments. Anything that vibrates can make sound, like a door slamming.
Tips for parents
- Go on a sound walk outside and list birds, cars and wind sounds you hear.
- Encourage gentle tapping so the activity stays fun and not too noisy.
- Safety: never put objects in ears, keep sounds at a comfortable level, and keep rice away from toddlers.
Go further
- Make shakers from sealed containers filled with rice, pasta or sand and compare their sounds.
- Listen to recordings or real calls of Australian birds and describe them as high or low, loud or soft.
- Fill glasses with different amounts of water and tap them gently with a spoon.