1-PS4-1: Vibrations Make Sound
Also called NGSS 1-PS4-1 · Topic: Waves: Light and Sound · Physical Science
The Official Wording
Plan and conduct investigations to provide evidence that vibrating materials can make sound and that sound can make materials vibrate.
Clarification statement: Examples of vibrating materials that make sound could include tuning forks and plucking a stretched string. Examples of how sound can make matter vibrate could include holding a piece of paper near a speaker making sound and holding an object near a vibrating tuning fork.
NGSS Lead States, 2013 · Read it on nextgenscience.org · checked October 15, 2026
What 1-PS4-1 Means in Plain English
First graders find out how sound and shaking go together. They pluck rubber bands and feel them buzz, touch their throats while humming, and watch rice grains hop on a plastic wrap drum when someone clangs pot lids nearby.
The goal is noticing the link between shaking and sound, not explaining waves. Measuring sound waits for 4th grade (4-PS4-1), where amplitude and wavelength come in. Sooner, in 1-PS4-4, children build a device that sends a message with sound or light.
1-PS4-1 I Can Statements
- I can feel a vibration when something makes a sound.
- I can make a sound by plucking or tapping something.
- I can show that a loud sound can make things shake.
1-PS4-1 Worked Example
A two-part test with rubber bands, a plastic wrap drum and two pot lids, run at one table in about 20 minutes.
Do things shake when they make sound, and can sound make other things shake?
Set It Up: Rubber bands stretched around an open plastic tub, plastic wrap pulled tight over an empty coffee can, a small handful of uncooked rice, and two metal pot lids.
- Pluck a rubber band on the tub and watch it closely.The band blurs back and forth and twangs
- Pinch the band to stop it.Shaking stops, sound stops
- Sprinkle rice on the plastic wrap drum and tap the drum gently.Rice bounces, drum thumps
- Let the rice settle, then clang the two pot lids together close to the can without touching it.Rice jumps with each clang
- Clang the lids again from farther away, then more softly, and compare.Softer or farther clang: rice hardly moves
Every sound came from something shaking, and a loud clang close by made the rice on the drum jump.
Why it works: Sound is made by vibrations, and those vibrations travel through the air and push on what they reach, like the plastic wrap.
Common Mistakes with 1-PS4-1
Thinking sound comes from nothing
“The rubber band just makes noise. It isn't moving.”
Try this: Watch the band right after plucking, then touch it lightly. Feeling the buzz shows that the band is shaking whenever it makes sound.
Bumping the drum
A pot lid that taps the can, then rice that jumps
Try this: Clang the lids a hand's width away so they never touch the can. Then only sound in the air can move the rice.
Thinking only loud things vibrate
“Whispers don't shake anything.”
Try this: Hum softly with a hand on your throat, then hum loudly. Both make a buzz, and the louder hum makes a bigger one.
Where 1-PS4-1 Fits
Practice 1-PS4-1
Quick Check
- You touch a drum right after you hit it. What do you feel?
- How can you stop a ringing bell from making sound?
- Why did the rice jump when the pot lids clanged nearby?