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Science Activities

Pluck it!

You will need:

• a rubber band

What to do

Stretch a rubber band around your thumb and forefinger. Pluck it to make a noise. Now hold one end of the rubber band in your teeth and the other end in your fingers. Be careful — don't let go! Pluck the rubber band again. Does it sound different?

Think about it

When the rubber band is between your teeth, the vibrations of the rubber band pass through your teeth to your jawbone and the bones of your skull. The sound travels to your inner ear and seems very loud. Your own voice sounds different to you than to other people because most of the sound travels through your bones rather than through the air. Violinists also hear the sound of their instrument through their bones.

Explore more

Use rubber bands of different sizes to hear different sounds. Tap your teeth with your fingernail and listen to the sound. Ask a friend to tap their teeth and hear the difference. Make a tape recording of your own voice. Does it sound like you expected it to?