---
title: "Vibrations & sound"
description: "Understand that vibrating materials can make sound, and that sound can make materials vibrate"
canonical: https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/vibrations-and-sound-mt_VBl1T1sFCM
source: https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/vibrations-and-sound-mt_VBl1T1sFCM.md
retrieved: 2026-10-19
---

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# Vibrations & sound

Understand that vibrating materials can make sound, and that sound can make materials vibrate

Subject: Science · Area: Waves, Light & Sound · Ages 6 to 9
Page: https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/vibrations-and-sound-mt_VBl1T1sFCM

## Ready when they can

- Describe that sounds are made when objects vibrate (move back and forth quickly)
- Give at least three examples of vibrating objects making sound (drum skin, guitar string, voice box)
- Describe an observation showing that sound can make another object vibrate without touching it.

## Lesson: Vibrations make sound

A vibration is a back-and-forth movement. Vibrating objects can make sound by pushing on nearby air. Sound travels through air to your ears and makes your eardrums vibrate. Some vibrations are too slow or too quiet for you to hear.

**Example.** Plucking a guitar string starts it moving back and forth. It vibrates and makes sound. Its movement may look blurry or be too small to see. A closed book and a resting rock are not sound-making examples.

*(drawing: A drum is not the only thing that vibrates to make sound. A guitar string and the folds inside your voice box do too.)*

The folds inside your voice box vibrate when you sing. Touch the outside of your throat gently to feel the buzz. The buzz comes from vibration, not from your throat cooling or growing.

An adult puts rice on a tight, thin bowl cover. A nearby speaker plays at a comfortable volume without touching the bowl. If sound makes the cover vibrate enough, the rice moves. Rice may stay still in some setups. Do not touch a speaker's moving cone.

*(drawing: Stopping the sound stops its push on the cover. The remaining movement fades.)*

A tap can move a bowl cover and the rice on it. If the speaker is off and someone taps the cover, the tap explains the movement. Movement alone does not prove that sound from a speaker caused it.

**Recap.** Vibrating objects can make sound. Sound can make other objects vibrate, including your eardrum.

## Practice

8 questions on this page, each with its working shown.

## Needs first

- [Light & sound vocabulary](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/light-and-sound-vocabulary-mt_YPSx5pbpVl)

## Opens up

- [Volume & Vibrations](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/volume-and-vibrations-mt__00ZSLnB7p)
- [Pitch of Sounds](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/pitch-of-sounds-mt_KTSoXcO7OL)
- [Wave properties & types](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/wave-properties-and-types-mt_LxK9OKZQZX)
- [How energy travels around](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/how-energy-travels-around-mt_X_aDUBh-HF)
- [Sound travels through materials](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/sound-travels-through-materials-mt_ydtcIBwHB9)
- [Communication with Light & Sound](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/communication-with-light-and-sound-mt_ZL9qVVnpwN)