Make music with straws

Make music with straws
Type of Resource: Practical activity/investigation

This online resource investigates different sound frequencies.

The resource is an instructional guide for building pan pipes made of drinking straws to demonstrate that different musical notes have different frequencies.

The instructions include how long to cut each straw for particular notes, and a guide to playing basic nursery rhymes using a number system.

This activity would make a good introductory lesson to sound waves or an extension for more able students to discuss frequencies and resonance. It should take approximately 30 minutes.

Australian Curriculum v9 Codes: AC9S9U04 (Year 9)

Additional Information

May 2020: The original link to this resource was replaced with an archived version of the file from the Internet Archive because the original page is no longer available.

Australian Curriculum:
  • Year 9 > Science Understanding > Physical Sciences > Energy transfer through different mediums can be explained using wave and... > ACSSU182