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[00:00:00.04] (soft melodic music) [00:00:31.00] (upbeat music) [00:00:35.02] - H, welcome to Storytime Science. [00:00:37.09] I'm here at the Exploratorium. [00:00:39.08] And today we're gonna read a book called, [00:00:43.01] "Oscar And The Bat." [00:00:44.09] A book about sound written and illustrated [00:00:49.01] by Geoff Waring. [00:00:50.08] (upbeat music) [00:00:54.00] "Oscar And The Bats." [00:00:56.09] One summer evening in the meadow, Oscar heard a new sound. [00:01:04.07] He looked around to see who was making it [00:01:07.06] cheep, cheep, cheep, cheep, Bat swooped by [00:01:12.09] "It's the baby blackbirds," he said. [00:01:16.02] "Their nest is over there in the bush." [00:01:19.08] "Oh," said Oscar, [00:01:22.03] "I can hear them, even though I can't see them." [00:01:26.02] "Yes," said Bat, "our ears help us know what's around us. [00:01:32.09] "Even when our eyes can't." [00:01:35.08] Then Oscar heard another sound, [00:01:39.05] Twee, twee, twee, twee [00:01:41.02] this time he could see [00:01:43.05] who was making it. [00:01:45.01] "The blackbirds singing to warn other blackbirds [00:01:49.08] "to stay away from his nest," Bat said, [00:01:54.02] Oscar thought it was the most beautiful sound [00:01:58.07] he had ever heard. [00:02:01.02] "I wish I could sing like a blackbird," [00:02:04.06] "Kittens can make other sounds," Bat said. [00:02:08.03] So can bats, then Bat goes, squeak. [00:02:13.05] And Oscar goes, meow. [00:02:17.02] "We make sounds in our throats" Bat went on [00:02:21.06] "but some animals talk with different parts of their bodies. [00:02:27.05] "Many male grasshoppers, [00:02:30.03] "talk to female grasshoppers [00:02:33.00] "by rubbing their wings together. [00:02:36.06] "Some roaches hiss to one another [00:02:41.03] "through holes along their sides. [00:02:44.09] "When they nest some male humming birds [00:02:49.08] "make a loud sound with their wings [00:02:52.05] "to warn other birds away. [00:02:55.04] "Bottle nose dolphins send messages [00:02:59.00] "to one and other underwater through their blow holes. [00:03:05.02] "The tips of rattlesnakes tails have hard connecting ridges. [00:03:12.03] "If other animals come to close [00:03:14.08] "the snakes lift and shake their tails." [00:03:19.00] "Are all sounds talking sounds? [00:03:22.09] Oscar asked. [00:03:24.06] "Lots are," Bat said [00:03:26.08] "but almost everything makes a sound when it moves. [00:03:32.06] "Close your eyes and listen, [00:03:37.00] "what can you hear moving in the meadow? [00:03:41.09] "Grass makes no sound when it's still but it swishes. [00:03:46.09] "when the wind moves it. [00:03:50.01] "Machines are still and silent until they're switched on. [00:03:56.06] "Then their engines move and make noises. [00:04:01.02] (grumbling loudly) [00:04:03.05] "Still water in a pond is silence. [00:04:07.06] "But moving water makes sounds," gurgle, gurgle, gurgle. [00:04:14.01] Oscar could hear another sound. [00:04:16.07] It was in the sky. [00:04:19.03] "What's that rumbling?" he asked. [00:04:22.09] "Thunder," said Bat, [00:04:25.03] "there's a storm coming even though it's far away, [00:04:30.00] "we can still hear the thunder [00:04:32.04] "because it's such a big sound." [00:04:36.02] Rumble, rumble, rumble. [00:04:38.03] Oscar opened his eyes. [00:04:41.03] "It's getting louder," he said. [00:04:44.07] "The thunder's coming this way," Bat said. [00:04:47.09] "The closer it is to us, the louder it sounds to us." [00:04:54.02] Rumble, crash. [00:04:56.06] "And when a big noise is very near, [00:05:00.06] "it sounds very loud indeed, "Bat shouted [00:05:06.02] as Oscar leaped away. [00:05:10.00] Safe under the leaves Oscar listened to raindrops falling. [00:05:15.08] "The rain is very near too," he said, "but it isn't scary." [00:05:22.06] "The rain is making a gentle sound," said Bat. [00:05:28.04] "Not a harsh sound like the thunder." [00:05:32.00] When the rain stopped, Oscar put out his head to listen. [00:05:37.01] "Is the thunder going away now?" [00:05:39.05] He asked. [00:05:40.05] "Yes," said Bat, "the farther it is from us [00:05:44.05] "the quieter it sounds to us." [00:05:48.02] Then it was gone. [00:05:50.06] "I can't hear anything," Oscar whispered. [00:05:54.03] "No," whispered Bat. [00:05:56.05] "This is silence. [00:05:59.07] "Or would be if we weren't whispering." [00:06:03.04] But just then, mooo. [00:06:08.07] "The cow sounds a bit like thunder," said Oscar. [00:06:12.09] "Yes, said Bat, "cows make a deep sound. [00:06:18.05] "It's low and rumbly." [00:06:21.06] "It isn't high and squeaky [00:06:24.06] "like the sound the baby birds make." [00:06:28.00] Now the blackbird started to sing again. [00:06:32.00] "That's still my favorite sound," said Oscar. [00:06:36.01] "It keeps changing and it's never too loud and scary [00:06:40.07] "or too high and squeaky. [00:06:43.06] "It's just right, like music." [00:06:48.01] And he started to purr. [00:06:51.02] (purring gently) [00:06:54.06] "And that's my favorite sound," said Oscar's mother [00:06:58.07] who had come to fetch him. [00:07:00.08] But Oscar and Bat were listening so hard [00:07:04.07] they didn't notice. [00:07:05.08] (upbeat music) [00:07:07.08] Time for sound activities. [00:07:10.01] Now I did some sound activities [00:07:12.01] in the October Halloween episode [00:07:14.09] but these sound activities will be really different. [00:07:17.04] Okay, what is sound? [00:07:19.07] Sound is vibration and what's vibration? [00:07:22.08] Vibration means that something is shaking. [00:07:25.01] So I'm going to clap my hands [00:07:27.06] and we'll see if it makes a sound. [00:07:36.02] Did that make a sound? [00:07:37.04] No, how come? [00:07:38.06] You're absolutely right [00:07:40.03] because I went too slowly. [00:07:42.07] I'm now really gonna clap. [00:07:44.09] (clapping loudly) [00:07:46.07] Now you heard the sound [00:07:47.08] and you heard the sound because when my palms came together, [00:07:52.03] when my hands came together [00:07:53.09] it pushed some air out of the way. [00:07:56.04] And when that air pushed out of the way [00:07:59.04] it sort of was almost like dominoes. [00:08:02.02] It was a little bit of air [00:08:04.02] that was in between my hands [00:08:05.05] pushed the next little bit of air [00:08:07.06] and that pushed the next little bit of air [00:08:09.08] and that little bit of air [00:08:11.02] pushed the next little bit of air [00:08:13.06] all the way until it got to your ears [00:08:16.02] and actually sound travels all over the place [00:08:18.08] at the same time. [00:08:20.00] So if you were standing over there or standing over there [00:08:22.04] or standing in front of me, you still would have heard it. [00:08:24.09] It's just pushing the airway [00:08:26.07] and that causes the air to vibrate. [00:08:30.01] Now let me try something else vibrating. [00:08:33.04] All right, I just have a single rubber band. [00:08:36.05] I'm gonna try this. [00:08:37.03] Let's see if it works the first time. [00:08:39.03] If not, I'll just do it until I get it right. [00:08:49.03] So you can actually probably see the rubber band [00:08:53.09] vibrating as I'm blowing air through it. [00:08:56.04] I've also stretched the rubber band [00:08:59.04] out quite a bit so that it'll shake or vibrate even more. [00:09:13.03] Now vibrations are happening around us all the time. [00:09:17.03] Probably you're hearing sounds all over your house. [00:09:20.08] Even very quiet sounds [00:09:22.07] like in the book that we just read "Oscar And The Bat." [00:09:27.03] At one point, they talk about a machine, [00:09:30.02] machines when they're turned off, they won't make a sound [00:09:33.01] but if they're turned on their motor make a sound. [00:09:36.03] So let's say you have a balloon. [00:09:39.03] Now, balloons, not a lot of people have them around anymore. [00:09:45.03] They're not really environmentally friendly. [00:09:48.01] So you don't wanna go out and buy a balloon just to do this. [00:09:51.05] But if you happen to have a balloon [00:09:53.07] sitting around the house from like a while ago, blow it up. [00:09:57.08] And what you're going to do, [00:09:58.09] this is gonna be your main instrument [00:10:03.00] for doing a sound safari around your house. [00:10:07.04] Blow up a balloon. [00:10:08.06] And then you wanna make as much contact between [00:10:12.01] the palm of each hand and the inside of your fingers. [00:10:15.04] And on the other hand as well [00:10:18.02] so that your hands are holding onto the balloon [00:10:23.00] with as much surface area of your hands, [00:10:25.06] touching the balloon. [00:10:26.09] So you don't wanna hold it like this. [00:10:29.02] You wanna hold it like this. [00:10:31.05] And then the first thing you wanna do, [00:10:34.00] you can talk to yourself. [00:10:35.02] You do not need to put your lips on the balloon. [00:10:39.00] In fact, it's better if you don't. [00:10:41.04] So if you just have the balloon [00:10:43.09] about this far away from your mouth [00:10:46.00] and you talk to yourself, hi self, how you doing today? [00:10:49.06] Sitting at home? [00:10:50.07] Yeah, I came to the Exploratorium today [00:10:53.00] to do Storytime Science. [00:10:54.08] You should be able to feel the balloon vibrating [00:10:59.03] because of the sound that you're making [00:11:01.06] with your vocal chords and your mouth. [00:11:04.01] And you can even sing to yourself, la la la [00:11:08.00] and you can also go around your house, [00:11:11.03] walk up to your refrigerator. [00:11:13.02] You don't even need to actually touch the balloon [00:11:17.08] to the refrigerator, just go close to the refrigerator. [00:11:21.06] And your refrigerator has a motor. [00:11:23.09] And hopefully your refrigerator is on [00:11:26.00] because it's keeping your food cold [00:11:27.09] and your frozen foods frozen. [00:11:30.06] And you should be able to feel your refrigerator vibrating. [00:11:35.08] You may not be able to hear the sound that well it's quiet [00:11:39.00] but you should be able to feel the sound. [00:11:42.06] If there's a radio on in your house or the TV, [00:11:44.04] again you don't have to actually touch [00:11:48.00] the radio or touch the TV. [00:11:50.02] Just go up really close to it. [00:11:52.07] And now you should be able to hear the sounds [00:11:55.09] coming out of your radio [00:11:57.02] and the sounds coming out of your TV. [00:11:59.00] You'll be able to hear those also, but you should also [00:12:01.09] be able to feel the sounds vibrating the balloon. [00:12:07.07] So that's your sound safari something you can do at home. [00:12:10.09] If you have a balloon at home, don't go out buying balloons [00:12:15.06] if you don't have one handy, because like I said [00:12:18.00] they're not really good for the environment. [00:12:19.06] And that's something [00:12:20.08] that we very very conscious 21st century people [00:12:24.06] are staying away from. [00:12:25.08] All right, the next thing we're gonna do [00:12:28.00] is, and again I'm gonna show this to you because once again [00:12:32.07] we're gonna use some plastic straws [00:12:35.02] and I don't even think that plastic straws are sold here, [00:12:39.07] here in San Francisco, where we are anymore. [00:12:42.03] They're also not really good. [00:12:44.01] People have moved to paper straws, but unfortunately [00:12:48.00] paper straws are not really good for making a straw oboe [00:12:52.03] which is what we're going to do. [00:12:53.09] So I'm just gonna demonstrate it for you. [00:12:56.00] And the reason I'm gonna demonstrate it [00:12:58.03] is so that you understand the difference [00:13:00.06] between volume and pitch. [00:13:05.07] Volume is how soft or how loud a sound is. [00:13:11.06] Pitch is how high or how low a sound is. [00:13:17.03] It's very distinctly different. [00:13:18.09] Sometimes really little kids [00:13:20.08] don't really understand the difference between high and loud [00:13:25.01] but there is a difference or low and soft, all right. [00:13:29.07] In the "Science Explorer," which is an Exploratorium book. [00:13:34.02] And I think it may also be on our website. [00:13:38.03] You can use again, a plastic straw [00:13:41.00] works for this paper straw that doesn't really work. [00:13:43.06] And I cut a little read [00:13:45.08] into the top of the straw [00:13:48.00] and I'm just going to blow through it. [00:13:50.04] I'm not actually making a sound with my voice. [00:13:52.07] I'm just blowing air through it. [00:13:54.02] And that's gonna make these two little cuts I made vibrate. [00:14:02.08] Let's see if I get it the first time. [00:14:05.07] (buzzing loudly) [00:14:07.09] Okay, I did. [00:14:08.09] So that's sort of a medium sound in terms of pitch. [00:14:12.08] It's not too deep or low. [00:14:15.09] It's not too high. [00:14:18.09] Now I have put together a bunch of straws. [00:14:23.03] I put together four straws to make a really long straw. [00:14:27.05] So where this is kind of a medium tone sound. [00:14:31.04] (buzzing loudly) [00:14:32.08] And now I'm gonna try and make [00:14:33.07] a really, really low sound [00:14:35.09] by putting these four straws together. [00:14:38.01] It's a longer or bigger straw. [00:14:40.08] So let's hear what the sound's gonna be like. [00:14:45.00] (buzzing loudly) [00:14:49.03] Ooh, excuse me. [00:14:51.08] That actually kind of sounds like a foghorn, [00:14:53.06] gets very foggy here in San Francisco [00:14:55.03] and the ships need to hear those fog horns. [00:14:58.00] So now that's a very low pitched sound or a very deep sound. [00:15:04.01] It's not quiet, but it is deep and low. [00:15:09.09] Now I'm gonna try getting to [00:15:11.09] a really really high pitched sound. [00:15:16.04] My voice went kind of high there too. [00:15:18.04] Okay, let me try doing this, flying bits of straw here. [00:15:24.01] (buzzing loudly) [00:15:32.01] Let me try and go even higher. [00:15:33.09] I'm gonna cut off the last bit. [00:15:35.03] Let's see how high I can get high in pitch. [00:15:37.06] I can get the sound. [00:15:39.02] (buzzing loudly) [00:15:44.02] Wow, it's a really high pitch sound. [00:15:47.04] It's loud, but it's high in pitch. [00:15:50.09] It's squeaky. [00:15:52.07] You can compare the length of this straw [00:15:59.07] with the length of this straw. [00:16:02.01] Let's give that foghorn one more try. [00:16:04.01] 'Cause it sounds so cool. [00:16:07.05] (buzzing loudly) [00:16:10.07] The other thing that's really interesting is [00:16:12.03] as I'm blowing through it, it makes my lips tickle [00:16:16.03] because the tip of the straw is vibrating. [00:16:20.01] So because my lips are touching it, my lips vibrate too. [00:16:25.02] It's feeling the sound as well as hearing the sound. [00:16:28.09] Okay, now let's go ahead and make something for this. [00:16:34.08] You're gonna need a popsicle stick. [00:16:37.06] Ooh, that one's a little bit bent. [00:16:39.01] Let me see if I find one that's a little straighter, good. [00:16:41.06] A popsicle stick. [00:16:43.02] You're gonna need to cap erasers. [00:16:47.04] These are cap erasers. [00:16:48.07] They're the ones that go on top of your pencil. [00:17:02.04] Now you want two of them and you're going [00:17:04.02] to put them on to the ends of your popsicle stick [00:17:09.00] and you don't want your popsicle stick like this. [00:17:12.04] You want it like this. [00:17:16.07] Now the cap eraser is gonna go onto one end [00:17:21.05] with the flat part [00:17:23.05] not the more edge part of the cap eraser. [00:17:29.01] So here is the flat part of the cap eraser. [00:17:34.07] And that flat part is going to align [00:17:38.08] with the flat part of the popsicle sticks. [00:17:41.08] So flat cap eraser, flat popsicle stick [00:17:49.08] and I'm gonna do the same on the other end. [00:17:51.06] So I have, let's see, I have yellow on this end. [00:17:54.06] Let's try green on this end. [00:17:56.07] And once again [00:17:58.08] and I'm gonna make sure that they're on there. [00:18:00.06] Nice and securely. [00:18:03.03] So once again, flat part of the cap eraser, [00:18:06.09] flat part of the popsicle stick [00:18:09.02] flat part of the other cap eraser. [00:18:14.00] The next thing we're going to do is take an index card. [00:18:18.07] The cool thing about using an index card [00:18:20.05] besides the fact that it helps the sound. [00:18:22.06] And I'll tell you why in a second. [00:18:26.01] You wanna fold in two. [00:18:30.06] You can draw something like maybe [00:18:32.09] since we called this the buzzing bee, [00:18:35.04] you can draw a picture of a bee on here [00:18:38.07] or a butterfly, or a fly, or a mosquito. [00:18:44.01] And just to kind of make it cooler [00:18:47.02] when you start buzzing it. [00:18:48.08] Now I have the index card that I folded in two. [00:18:56.02] And I'm going to take that popsicle stick. [00:18:58.09] And I'm going to sort of make a popsicle stick sandwich [00:19:03.04] with the two halves of the index card as the bread. [00:19:07.02] So I'm going to put it in like this [00:19:11.08] And now you want this index card to stay in place. [00:19:15.06] So what I've got here is a really strong stapler. [00:19:19.00] If you have a really strong stapler [00:19:20.08] that can actually staple through wood, good for you. [00:19:24.09] If you don't, you can put a little glue on the inside [00:19:28.00] or a little bit of tape on the inside. [00:19:29.06] The main thing is you don't want this index card [00:19:32.05] to flop around or fall off. [00:19:34.08] So I am going to actually staple through the index card [00:19:39.00] and through the wood, not over the wood [00:19:40.04] but actually right there in the middle of where the wood is. [00:19:47.00] This is a strong stapler. [00:19:53.05] And now you can see there's the staple [00:19:58.01] and you can see that it's not shaking off. [00:20:00.09] It's not flying off. [00:20:02.01] It's really stable. [00:20:03.02] It's on there. [00:20:04.01] Okay, the next step is we're going to add a piece of string [00:20:12.01] And you don't want the string to be too thick [00:20:14.04] but you could also like use yarn [00:20:17.05] even thin string, even thread will work [00:20:23.01] And right between one of the cap erasers [00:20:27.07] it doesn't matter which one and the card [00:20:31.00] there's a little bit of wood that you can still see. [00:20:34.05] That's where I'm gonna tie the string. [00:20:37.00] So I have a piece of string. [00:20:38.04] You don't want it too long, [00:20:39.09] but you don't want it too short either [00:20:41.06] because you're gonna be swinging it around. [00:20:44.00] You don't want it to hit the ground. [00:20:45.08] If you're not super tall like me [00:20:48.08] but you don't want it too short [00:20:51.02] that you can't give it a good swing. [00:20:52.09] Now I am tying this on with whoops, [00:21:01.06] at least a double knot, maybe even a triple knot. [00:21:05.08] And I will show you the tie once I finished tying it [00:21:11.03] all right, I did what they call a square knot. [00:21:14.09] So it shouldn't be nice and secure. [00:21:18.01] So there it is in between the index card [00:21:21.00] and the cap eraser. [00:21:23.04] And the last part is you wanna add the rubber band [00:21:27.08] now with the knot that I've made [00:21:30.08] I wanna make sure that that [00:21:33.01] little knot right there [00:21:34.09] does not touch the rubber band at all. [00:21:38.06] I'm gonna put the rubber band on [00:21:40.07] and where are my rubber bands? [00:21:42.01] Here we go. [00:21:45.03] This is a good size rubber band. [00:21:47.09] If it's even wider than this, that's good [00:21:54.04] but no thinner than this or it won't make [00:21:57.00] so much of a sound, but also you can see the length [00:22:01.07] of this rubber band and you want it to be [00:22:05.04] a little bit stretched out. [00:22:07.05] If it stretches out a little bit, it'll vibrate better [00:22:11.01] and make a better sound. [00:22:13.01] So now what you wanna do [00:22:15.05] is you want to stretch this rubber band [00:22:19.03] between the two cap erasers. [00:22:22.07] And while you're doing this, you wanna make extra sure. [00:22:27.04] Ooh, that there is no twist in the rubber band. [00:22:31.07] If there is a twist in the rubber band like that [00:22:35.07] it's not gonna be able to vibrate really well. [00:22:42.05] So I'm gonna make sure that this rubber band [00:22:46.03] is nice and tight, but stretched really well [00:22:52.07] between the two cap erasers. [00:22:58.05] So that it'll vibrate the best that it can. [00:23:04.08] And again, I wanna make sure that the knot [00:23:08.06] of the string is not bumping into the rubber band [00:23:13.02] 'cause that will also stop the rubber band from vibrating. [00:23:16.05] So there you are. [00:23:19.03] And there's the other side. [00:23:22.01] All right, so here is our buzzing bee. [00:23:25.09] Let's see if it actually buzzes. [00:23:27.07] I didn't have time to do a drawing on it, but that's okay. [00:23:30.00] You can do one if you make one, all right. [00:23:32.05] Kind of wanna be quiet [00:23:33.06] because bees are pretty small [00:23:35.02] so they don't make really, really loud noises. [00:23:38.05] (buzzing loudly) [00:23:45.04] Try it, holding the string a little bit shorter. [00:23:49.01] (buzzing loudly) [00:23:54.01] (upbeat music) [00:23:58.04] Poetry Corner. [00:24:00.07] This poem is by Shel Silverstein. [00:24:05.04] It's called, "Noise Day." [00:24:10.01] Let's have one day for girls and boyses. [00:24:14.09] When you can make the grandest noises. [00:24:19.00] Screech, scream, holler and yell. [00:24:23.00] Buzz a buzzer, clang a bell. [00:24:26.05] Sneeze, hiccup, whistle, shout. [00:24:30.02] Laugh until you lungs wear out. [00:24:34.07] Toot a whistle, kick a can. [00:24:37.05] Bang a spoon against a pan. [00:24:40.06] Sing, yodel, bellow, hum. [00:24:44.01] Blow a horn, beat a drum. [00:24:47.03] Rattle a window, slam a door. [00:24:50.01] Scrape a rake across the floor. [00:24:54.05] Use a drill, drive a nail. [00:24:57.07] Turn the hose on the garbage pail. [00:25:01.00] Shout, yahoo, hurrah, hooray. [00:25:04.05] Turn up the music all the way. [00:25:08.02] Try and bounce your bowling ball. [00:25:11.08] Ride a skateboard up the wall. [00:25:15.02] Chomp you food with a smack and a slurp. [00:25:19.00] Chew, chomp, hiccup, burp. [00:25:22.09] One day a year do all these. [00:25:26.07] The rest of the days, be quiet please. [00:25:30.07] (upbeat music) [00:25:33.03]

Storytime Science for Kids

Storytime Science for Kids: The Sound Epidsode

Published:   January 26, 2021
Total Running Time:   00:25:38

Join us for Storytime Science—a storybook read-aloud, followed by a simple activity geared toward young children. This January, the Exploratorium's own Vivian Altmann reads Oscar and the Bat: A Book About Sound, written and illustrated by Geoff Waring. What's that sound? Oscar can hear it, but who's making it? Bat shows up to take Oscar on a sound tour of the garden and beyond. Check out a few quick sound demonstrations with Vivian, then try a sound hunt at home and learn how to make a buzzing bee toy. For the at-home sound hunt, you'll need a balloon. For the buzzing bee toy, you'll need: a popsicle stick an index card two cap erasers (the kind you stick on the end of a pencil) a rubber band (about 1/4-inch thick) a piece of string a strong stapler markers for decoration (optional) Then stick around for a noisy poem!

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