YOU WILL NEED

• Five identical plastic bottles
• Water

HERE'S HOW

Fill five identical plastic bottles with varying amounts of water. Arrange the bottles in order from most to least full. Blow across the top of each bottle and compare the different sounds you make.

WHY?

Changing the amounts of air and water in the bottles lets you change the pitch—how high or low the sound is. When you blow across the tops of the bottles, you are making the air inside vibrate. In bottles with more air, vibrations are slower, so the pitch is lower.

Text by Julie Vosburgh Agnone

Illustration by David Bamundo