How to make a straw flute

How are sounds made?

Sounds are made when an object vibrates, this makes the air around an object vibrate as well. When the air vibrations reach our ears they shake tiny hairs, which are connected to nerves. The nerves send a message to our brain telling it that a noise has been heard.

How to make a straw flute

Materials

Straws

Sellotape

Instructions

Cut around 8 straws ( more or less is fine )  so each is a different length and sellotape them together in a row.

Blow over the top of the straws, you just find that the pitch changes with the length of the straw.

Extension Ideas

Try using thicker or thinner straws, change the length or make a hole in the straws and record how the sound changes.

Find out how you can see sound using rice and a drum.

Why does this happen?

A straw flute makes a sound when you blow over the holes. Longer straws create a different pitch sound to shorter straws because the time taken for the vibrations to travel up and down the straw is different.

Learning Outcomes

Understand how sounds are made and associate them with something vibrating. 

Understand that different instruments create different sounds.

Consider that the same instrument can make sounds of different pitches by changing how the vibrations are made.