Lesson 36 of 84 · Waves
Experiment⭐ 30 XPThe Electromagnetic Spectrum (Part 2)
The Electromagnetic Spectrum (Part 2).
🎯 Your mission
Predict it first. Then prove yourself right (or wrong).
⚡ The twist
Nature loves to surprise the careful watcher.
Mind = Blown
🔬 The more you look, the more nature shows you.
Make a hypothesis first
Before you start: write down what you think will happen, and why.
What You'll Learn
Sound is a vibration that travels through matter as a wave. It cannot travel through a vacuum. Sound travels fastest through solids and slowest through gases.
Key Words
- constraint
- criteria
Materials Needed
- string
- cups
- aluminum foil
- ruler
- markers
Safety First
- Use materials only as directed in the experiment.
- Keep small objects away from young children.
Steps
Review the background information on Waves before starting.
Design an experiment to test a hypothesis. Identify your independent variable, dependent variable, and controls. Run the experiment and present results.
Note any unexpected results and think about why they happened.
Share your findings with the class or a partner and discuss what you learned.
Check Your Understanding
Question 1
1 of 3What determines the pitch of a sound?
Where you see this in real life
This shows up in your everyday life more than you'd think.
Stretch Challenge
Try this in real life this week.
Try one experiment in real life this week — even a tiny one.
For the dinner table
“What's the most surprising thing you learned today?”
Next Smart Experiment
We'll pick an experiment that matches exactly how you're thinking right now.
Share this experiment
Send it to a parent who's looking for a 10-minute kitchen science win.
Checkout complete lesson on Waves for 8th Grade
Get the full Waves track as a printable PDF — all lessons, worksheets, and answer keys.