Science Smarts: Some musical fun for those frigid days when you’re stuck inside

By Patty Rooks on February 15, 2025.

I don’t know about you, but I have been digging into my folder of indoor science activities the past week or so to keep busy. The cold weather has me wanting to stay indoors as much as possible, so I do not freeze! If you are like me, you may be running out of these spare activities, so here is a new one to add to your library of indoor science fun. Let’s get started!

*Remember to ask an adult before you do this experiment.

Materials

– Identical plastic water bottles (five)

– Water

– Disinfectant wipes

Procedure

1. Fill five identical plastic bottles with varying amounts of water.

2. Arrange the bottles in order from most to least full.

3. Blow across the top of each bottle and compare the different sounds you make.

4. Adjust the amount of water so that you can hear clear differences in the sounds made

5. With the help of the rest of your family, try to play your favourite tune.

6. Empty and clean the top of the bottles using the disinfectant and wipes if you are allowing others to do this.

What is going on?

Changing the amounts of air and water in the bottles lets you change the PITCH. The PITCH is how high or low the sound you are hearing is. When you blow across the tops of the bottles, you are making the air inside vibrate. In bottles with more air, vibrations are slower, so the pitch is lower.

Want to make this into a science experiment for the 50th annual Regional Science Fair on March 22? Try changing or sing different sizes of bottles. Perhaps even the material the bottle is made out of (glass vs. plastic). There is still time to get a project together so do not delay!

Patty Rooks, senior scientific consultant PRAXIS, “Connecting Science To The Community.” Contact Praxis at praxis@praxismh.ca, http://www.praxismh.ca, Tweet or follow us @PraxisMedHat, or friend us on Facebook. Address: 12 826 11th Street SE, Medicine Hat, AB, T1A 1T7 Phone: 403-527-5365, email: praxis@praxismh.ca.

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