We suggest students work in pairs. Homeschool students will need a partner for this activity.

Plan Your Space

This activity involves pairs of students working together to create codes and then separating from one another to communicate those codes over a distance. Ideally student pairs will stand across the room from one another, but you may need to modify depending on your classroom.

Select Your Materials

You can choose to provide whatever materials you’d like for students to use for their codes. We suggest at least some paper and crayons. But you can include flashlights, musical instruments, or anything you’d like to encourage student creativity in their visual and sound code creation.

Sensory Warning

This activity involves students communicating through visual and sound cues across the classroom. If you have students who are sensitive to sensory overload, you may want to adjust the activity or create additional constraints (e.g. only whisper sounds) to create a safe space for all students.

Each student will first make half of a paper cup telephone. Then, students will pair up to complete their telephones. Homeschool students will need a partner for the activity.

Students will also have the chance to come up with their own experiments with the telephone. The list below shows materials they could use. You can get more materials if you'd like.

• more paper cups, including larger and smaller cups
• construction paper that could be used to make a cup larger
• ribbon, yarn, dental floss, or other kinds of string
• more of the same string you used before
• more paper clips

Prepare String

Each student needs a piece of string that is 6 feet in length. Read our Teacher Tips for an easy way to prepare several strings all at once using a yardstick.

Display Engineering Materials

Your students will have the chance to come up with their own experiments with the phone. But before students attempt to modify and improve the design of their telephones, they need to know which materials are available to them. During Step 15 of the experiment, we suggest you show students which of these will be available.

For the first activity, we suggest students work in pairs. Homeschool students will need a partner. For the second activity, you need a minimum of four people (and a maximum of six people) who will sit in a line, side by side. So make sure you have the people and the chairs you need.

Divide Your Supplies

The first activity requires balloons and binder clips. The second activity requires the printouts and some tape. You may want to separate these supplies into two piles for easy classroom distribution.

For the rope activity, you’ll need a smooth, hard floor where you can stretch out a rope that’s 12 to 15 feet long. Students can take turns making waves. We suggest having at least one rope for each group of 8 students.

Prepare the Rope or Clothesline

For each group of students, you’ll need a flexible rope or clothesline measuring 12 to 15 feet in length.

Virtual Oscilloscope Extension (Optional)

In our Extensions section, we include a link to an online oscilloscope that you can use to extend your exploration of the patterns made by sound. Using this tool, students can experiment with different sounds and see the patterns that the waves make.