Sounds are all around us. We do not want to hear many of the sounds outside when we are inside our homes, for example: traffic noise.

Some materials are good at allowing sound to travel through them. They are dense materials.

Some materials are good at absorbing sound - they do not vibrate as well. These materials are called sound insulators and are soft materials. In our homes we are surrounded by soft materials - curtains, carpets, duvets, soft furniture etc.

Sometimes we want to block out sound because it can damage our ears!  The loudness of sound is measured in a unit called decibels (dB) and sounds in the region of 100dB can hurt our ears.

Let's find out more about insulating sound.