Teaching overview

Learning points

  • Cell phones send and receive calls as radio waves.
  • Radio waves are picked up by the nearest cell tower, and relayed to the other person’s phone.
  • A cell phone loses signal if there are no towers nearby.
  • Signal can be blocked by thick walls and other barriers.

Curriculum keywords

  • STEM
  • Waves
  • Communication

Spark a discussion

  • How do cell phones send and receive calls?
  • Why is it harder to get a cell signal in the countryside than the city?
  • What things can block a cell phone signal?

Twig Science: A Complete Pre-K–8 Program for the NGSS

Immersive Investigations with High-Quality Multimedia

  • Investigating, designing, building, and understanding phenomena
  • Hands-on, digital, video, and print investigations
  • Synchronous/asynchronous distance learning