CLIL Unit 9

Focus on Science: Sound and hearing

1 Match the two halves of the sentences.
1 Sound is A a high frequency (lots of waves per second).
2 Frequency is B the number of times a sound wave repeats per second and is
3 High-pitched sounds have measured in hertz.
4 Low-pitched sounds have C the loudness or softness of a sound and is measured in decibels.
5 Volume is D caused by vibrations and travels in waves.
6 Amplitude is E the maximum extent of a sound wave.
F a low frequency (a few waves per second).

2 Label the diagrams of sound waves with the words from the box.
frequency high pitch high volume low pitch low volume amplitude

3 _______ 4 _______ 5 _______ 6 _______

3 What’s the loudest sound? Write the words from the box in the correct place on the scale below.

a crying baby whispering a plane taking off a normal conversation normal breathing a live concert

Quietest Loudest
10 decibels 30 decibels 60 decibels 110 decibels 120 decibels 140 decibels
1 _______ 2 _______ 3 _______ 4 _______ 5 _______ 6 _______

4 Follow the instructions to carry out an experiment to see if you can change the pitch of sound. Then write
up your experiment using the plan and phrases below.
You will need: an empty plastic bottle and some water.
1 Put a little water into a plastic bottle and blow gently across the top of it until you make a sound. Remember this
sound. Is it low-pitched or high-pitched? Record your observations.
2 Add some more water to the bottle and blow again. Is the sound the same? How has the sound changed?
3 Keep adding water and making new sounds.

Equipment: … Aim: To find out how …

Method and observations: Conclusions:
I conducted an experiment to find out … The experiment shows that …
When I put / blew / added … It can be shown that …
I observed / noticed that … This demonstrates that …
This was because …