Spooky Science: Ghost Screams

October Spooky Science

Ghost screams

This science experiment was inspired by Science Bob “chicken in a cup.” This can easily be made into a ghost, for some fun, spooky science!

What you need:

1.      Plastic cup

2.      Cotton String (about 18 inches)

3.      Paper clip

4.      Nail to make a hole in the cup & hammer to help push it in

5.      A paper towel folded in half & make wet

6.      White tissue paper or cloth to make your ghost sheet

7. Black sharpie to color in the eyes and mouth

Directions:

1.      Hammer a thick nail to make a whole in a cup, needs to be large enough to poke the string through, but not too big, because the string needs to be pulled through the rim of the hole.

2.      Tie one end of the cotton string around a paper clip

3.      Push the other end of the string through the hole you made in the cup

4.      Pull the string all the way through, so the paper clip is flush against the cup (it prevents the string from being pulled all the way through the cup)

5.      Get your paper towel wet and wrap around the bottom of the string, like a taco

6.      Firmly holding the wet paper towel around the string, pull down in short burst

What’s the Science Behind It?

The cup acts as a sound board to the string. Pulling down on the string by itself would be silent, when you add the cup, the vibrations move through the cup, amplifying the sound.

Extensions:

Use different size strings, thick and thin. Guess which one will make loud or quiet sounds. Write down their guess, then test it.

Here are the links to science Bob’s experiment:

https://sciencebob.com/chicken-sounds-from-a-cup/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8T80Eur8DI

Looking for other fun Halloween & Fall activities? Check out Pumpkin Physics, Ghost Bubble Science, Hammering Pumpkins, & Monster Slime.