When playing a musical instrument, shortening the length of the air tube will make the tone higher, and widening the length of the air tube will make the tone higher low. The straws can be cut to different lengths to produce different pitches. They can form a sort of “oboe” (a wind instrument, similar to a clarinet) that will vibrate and create sound when blown on it. A straw that is half the length of another straw will be exactly one octave higher than the longest straw. It is recommended to use paper straws, as plastic straws are more difficult to focus on a single note. Sound is a wave whose height can change depending on atmospheric pressure. It is produced by the vibrations of objects. Waves can be measured by speed (v), frequency (f), wavelength (λ) and period. The frequency of a wave describes the number of cycles of a wave that occur per unit of time. A high frequency sound has more wavelengths in a set amount of time than a low frequency sound. High frequencies have smaller wavelengths and low frequencies have longer wavelengths. The higher the frequency, the higher the perceived pitch. Wavelength, frequency and speed are all related by the equation: v = fλ. They can also be used in the equation: f = v/λ. Wavelength is the difference between the peaks and valleys of a sound wave. It is the difference measured between the highest parts and the lowest parts. When you combine tones an octave apart, sound waves interfere. A trough will cancel out a peak of the same magnitude. There are two words used to define a good tone combination and a bad tone combination. "Consonant" is used to describe a pleasant-sounding interference pattern (combination of tones), and "dissonant" is used to ...... middle of paper ...... heirs of the straw oboes together to form a sort of pan flute. Straw oboes can teach us about wavelengths and how sound is formed through vibrations. We can also learn about the mathematical equations that can allow us to cut our straw in a way that creates the do-re-mi scale. Tuning straw oboes to the correct pitches can help us develop an ear for matching musical sounds. It will also teach the correct embouchure (mouth position) for playing a reed instrument. Works Cited (Olson, Andrew. Do-Re-Mi with Straws. Np: Science Buddies, 2013. N. pag. Science Buddies. Web March 13, 2014.)(Arons, Eric. Making A Straw Woodwind. Np: Reach Out Michigan , nd N. pag. Reach Out Michigan Web. March 16, 2014.)(Hodges, Richard. The musical scale and its Intervals. Np: RHodges, 2009. N. pag. Web... 2014.)