
Suitable For
Grade 8
Difficulty
3
Time Required
<2 Days
Supervision
Advised
What’s it about?
As much as there is a place for all insects in the bigger scheme of things, some ‘nocturnal’ insects can be really annoying to people during the non-winter months. Night insects like mosquitoes, moths and the like, buzzes your ears constantly, and some nocturnal insects such as gnats are so tiny, they can even travel through screened doors and windows. In this science project, experiment with high and low pitched sounds to see if it has any effect on nocturnal insects:
Topics covered
Nocturnal
What will I need?
- FLASHLIGHT
- CARDBOARD BOX
- ALUMINIUM FOIL
- SCISSORS & GLUE
- STOP WATCH
- TAPE RECORDER & TAPE
- ELECTRONIC ORGAN
Procedure (Method)
As much as there is a place for all insects in the bigger scheme of things, some ‘nocturnal’ insects can be really annoying to people during the non-winter months. Night insects like mosquitoes, moths and the like, buzzes your ears constantly, and some nocturnal insects such as gnats are so tiny, they can even travel through screened doors and windows. In this science project, experiment with high and low pitched sounds to see if it has any effect on nocturnal insects:

- Find a medium sized carton box with flaps. Use scissors to trim away the sides of each of the four flaps as in the diagram above.
- Use scissors to cut out a rectangular piece of aluminium foil that will fit fully inside the back wall of the box (the side opposite the opening with the flaps). Stick the piece of aluminium foil against the inside back wall using glue.
- Push the flaps slightly towards the inside of the box so that the wedges come together where it was trimmed away.
- Use an electronic organ or keyboard and tape recorder to create a tape recording of 20 minutes of a continuous very low note followed by 20 minutes of a continuous very high pitched note.
- At nightfall, put the box upright so that the flaps are facing to the side and the aluminium backing faces the flaps. Switch on and place an electronic lantern or flashlight upright at the back of the box next to the aluminium backing so that the light is reflected outward.
- Leave the box alone in the dark and use a stopwatch to count down 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, count the number of insects caught in the box as accurately as possible, and record your results.
- Now, clean out the box of insects and place the tape recorder inside the box next to the flashlight. Start the tape recording of the continuous low pitched sound and leave the box for 20 minutes. Count the number of insects caught during this time and record you results.
- Repeat ‘step 7’ but this time play the very high pitched tone for twenty minutes on the tape recorder.
- Examine your recorded data and notice the effect the low and high sounds have on the insects!