From Ripples to Thunder: Exploring Sound with STEM

On Tuesday, the Girls in STEM Club returned to the Discovery Science and Technology Centre for an engaging and hands-on session focused on sound engineering.  The session explored how sound is produced, transmitted, and heard, and whether it can be visualised.  Using a rope, the girls observed that high-pitched sounds create more frequent waves, while low-pitched sounds move more slowly.

The group explored sound vibrations by placing their hands on their throats and feeling their larynx vibrate while making noise.  Using tuning forks, they visualised sound waves through ripples in water and discovered how vibrations become audible on hard surfaces, deepening their understanding of how sound travels through different materials.

They then experimented with simple, homemade sound-producing devices.  A spring attached to a cup amplified sound as it was stretched and released.  A string threaded through a cup, when pulled along by hand, caused the cup to amplify the vibrations into sound.  Rotating plastic tubes of varying lengths at high speeds produced a range of tones, demonstrating how pitch changes with length and speed.

To conclude, the group collaborated to create the soundscape of a summer storm, starting with gentle rain, building to the crash of thunder, and fading back to silence.  The session ended with the girls jumping parade on “ding boxes”, producing a continuous, rhythmic sound in unison.

It was a fun, interactive experience that combined science, creativity, and teamwork, a perfect example of how engineering can be accessible, educational and exciting.