Do you hear what I hear?

Local students filed into the Math and Science Building Saturday for the third edition of Science Saturdays. The subject was “Do you hear what I hear?”
Students began the morning learning about how sound travels in waves, and modeling them with slinkys. By grabbing each end of the child’s toy and moving them in various directions, the different sound waves can easily be seen.
Next the students, with the help of several elementary and secondary education majors and professors, built models of ear drums to show how vibrations move through the ear. Using the models, students were able to see the effect of vibrations caused by sound on the ear drum.
After the ear drum experiment, the students split into two groups. The older group of students, fifth, sixth, and seventh graders, built guitars out of cigar boxes and materials found at a hardware store. After a lot of epoxy glue, and a few minutes of tuning, the guitars were ready to strum. Assistant physical and life sciences professor Jeremy Weremeichik said that the guitars could even be converted to play with an amp, as an electric guitar.
The younger group built xylophones out of copper pipes and popsicle sticks, and maracas out of coconut shells and beads.
There are four more Science Saturdays scheduled this semester. The next on Feb. 11, is called ‘Electricity: Circuits 101.’