The udu is a traditional Nigerian percussion instrument that can be thought of as a Helmholtz resonator with two apertures. We use a simple two-particle mechanical analogue to study the behaviour of such a resonator and find that the model describes quite well the main features of udu acoustics.

When a new topic is introduced in the curriculum, teachers seek various ways to teach students the related concepts. For the novel topic 'materials' in the revised Dutch curriculum, I developed an experiment in which students determine Young's modulus using a guitar string. The experiment not only covers several concepts related to 'materials' it…

The aim of this paper is to provide physics teachers and physics students with interdisciplinary cultural and scientific related content. The "dombra" is on the one hand a cultural symbol of Kazakhstan with a long tradition. On the other hand, the dombra as a musical instrument is an object of interest in acoustics. The topic can lead to…

Scientific literacy is an important skill for students' success, given the characteristics of today's society. However, not all students have a natural predisposition toward science, chemistry in particular. Considering the relevance of transdisciplinary learning, schools should foster the scientific abilities for which students may have less…

The acoustics of a vibrating string is frequently used as a simple example of how physics can be applied in the field of art. In this paper we describe a simple experiment and analysis using a clipped string. This experiment can generate scientific curiosity among students because the sound generated by the string seem surprising to our senses.…

Describes an improvised science lesson that grew out of elementary students' interests and questions about music and sound. Students designed, built, and performed with their own musical instruments. (WRM)