Handouts are available below

Big Idea

Looking for a high impact but low set up activity on sound? Here’s something I’ve done with all my students last year – from Grade 8 to 12 – that had all of them curious (even the ones who are too cool to care about school). I’ve done this as a short 5-10 minute demonstration to an extended station activity. And, it uses singing bowls. These are bowls that make a sound either by striking or rubbing the rims with a mallet. It’s the 2nd way of sound production that I want students to work with.

How to Use Singing Bowls in a Science Activity

The sound produced in singing bowls is caused by vibrations created with friction while rubbing the bowl. As you continue to rub the rim of the bowl, the friction keeps producing vibrations – which build and build – creating a standing wave. This standing wave is what we hear as sound. But, getting vibrations to create a standing wave takes a bit of work sometimes – which is why it’s not instantaneous.

I have several different sized bowls which came as a set that I purchased off Amazon. They come with different sized mallets too. Some mallets have suede – others don’t. And, yes, larger mallets with suede are used for larger bowls (and smaller mallets with smaller bowls). This does matter – believe me, I tried. Also, for smaller bowls, I’ve found that striking the bowl gently first and then using the mallet around the rim works better than trying to get a sound purely from running the mallet around the rim.

Using the different bowl sizes, one relationship I’m having students examine is the one between speed, bowl size, and sound: specifically, how does the bowl size affect the minimum turn speed needed to keep a sound going?

I create 7 stations – each station with a corresponding bowl and mallet – and have students run the mallet around the bowl until a sound is produced. Then, while the bowl is ringing, students can find the speed at which they are moving the mallet around by counting revolutions and recording time. I’m doing this with my Grade 8 students who will be doing a unit on sound and waves soon. See handouts for instructions and sample data tables.

Thanks for reading, and we’ll talk science again soon.

Resources

Handout(s): Ep44 Handout – Singing Bowls and Speed of Turn

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