DIY Balloon Drum

Supplies:

• large empty metal can
• large balloon
• rice
• packing tape
• scissors
• two unsharpened pencils.

Instructions:

1. Cut the end off of the balloon
2. Stretch the balloon tightly over the open top of the metal can and secure with packing tape
3. Play the drum with the eraser-end of the pencils. Do you hear music? Do you hear the sound of the drum? Is the balloon head vibrating?
4. Place a teaspoon of rice on the balloon head. Now play the drum.

Questions to ask:

• What happens to the rice?
• Why is the rice moving?
• Is the balloon head vibrating?
• Are the vibrations creating sound?

How it works:

Sound basically occurs when something vibrates (or moves quickly back and forth).  The vibration causes the particles around it to move and creates sound waves. These waves make their way from the object, through the air, to our ears.

the DIY Balloon Drum and DIY Rubber Band Guitar experiments show how vibrations create sound.  You will see that without vibration there is no sound!

“I would teach children music, physics, and philosophy; but most importantly music, for the patterns in music and all the arts are the keys to learning” – Plato