Year 4 - Science - Pitch

Date: 27th Mar 2025 @ 9:17am

This week in science, we looked at pitch. We learned that it is how high or low a sound is. Pitch is determined by the frequency of the sound waves. Higher frequency sound waves produce a higher pitch, while lower frequency waves produce a lower pitch.

We compared two straws—one short and one long. We noticed a difference in pitch when we blew through them.

The short straw produces a higher-pitched sound because the air vibrates faster inside it, creating sound waves with a higher frequency.

The long straw produces a lower-pitched sound because the air vibrates more slowly, creating sound waves with a lower frequency.

We also looked at what happens when a bolt is placed into a balloon. The children predicted what would happen and why. When a bolt is placed inside a balloon and the balloon is shaken or spun quickly, the bolt moves around and creates a vibrating sound. When the bolt moves faster, the vibrations happen more frequently, producing a higher pitch.