Grade 4 · Science · Unit 5 of 9
Sound
Vibrations, pitch, echoes and hearing
What your child practises
Vibrations and sound waves, pitch and volume, how sound travels through different materials but not through empty space, echoes and absorbing sound, how we hear, and how noise and sound devices affect people and animals.
Ontario Curriculum expectation: C1.1, C1.2, C2.4, C2.5, C2.8 · how vibrations make sound waves that travel through a medium, and how technology uses sound
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
A bigger vibration makes a…
🔊- louder sound
- silent sound
- quieter sound
- higher pitch only
Show answer
louder sound
Hint: Volume depends on how big the vibration is.
Question 2
A drum is hit softly, then hard. What changes?
🥁- the volume
- the colour
- the speed of sound in air
- the pitch of every sound
Show answer
the volume
Hint: A harder hit makes a bigger vibration.
Question 3
Sound travels fastest through which of these?
🚂- a steel rail
- a vacuum
- air
Show answer
a steel rail
Hint: Sound travels faster through solids than through air.
Question 4
Hearing aids help people by…
🦻- making light brighter
- making sounds easier to hear
- making sound travel in a vacuum
- changing colours
Show answer
making sounds easier to hear
Hint: Technology can help people with hearing loss.
Question 5
Put the steps of hearing in order.
- 🦴tiny bones in your ear vibrate
- 🧠a nerve sends a message to your brain
- 👂sound waves enter your ear
- 🥁your eardrum vibrates
Show answer
sound waves enter your ear → your eardrum vibrates → tiny bones in your ear vibrate → a nerve sends a message to your brain
Hint: Sound waves enter the ear, the eardrum vibrates, tiny bones vibrate, and a nerve sends a message to the brain.
Question 6
Loud noises for a long time can…
🎧- make you taller
- help you see better
- make you stronger
- damage your hearing
Show answer
damage your hearing
Hint: Ear protection helps when it is loud.