1. Activity Planning Sheet Date: 6/23 Theme: In a Fix Teacher: Kye
Activity Name Can you hear me now?
Lesson Goals Kids will experiment and problem solve with different materials to make
phones that really work out of everyday materials.
Supplies Pencils
Blue:
15 Plastic Cups with 10 feet of yarn
15 Plastic Cups with 10 feet of fishing line
15 Paper Cups with 10 feet of yarn
15 Paper Cups with 10 feet of fishing line
40 Worksheets
Yellow:
2 Rolls of Yarn
2 Rolls of Fishing Line
2 Rolls of Twine
2 Rolls of Cotton String
30 each of plastic and paper cups
10 Yardsticks
40 Worksheets
15 pairs of scissors
Introduction/
Expectations
We are in a fix! We have all these materials and need to make some
good phones, but we need to experiment to see which materials work
best to carry sound! Do you think any will work? Why/why not?
Come together as a group to explain what is at their tables and the
worksheet that will be involved with their work. Ask them what they
know about sound. Have they ever put an iphone in a cup before?
What happens when you do? Do they know the word “sound wave”
and what that means?
Go over worksheet more thoroughly.
How do we need to work together as partners? What will this look like?
Blue Instructions Blue group’s worksheet will be more image focused. Model how they
will fill out the worksheet by demonstrating how this will be done with
the yarn and plastic phone. Take student predictions and observations
to fill it in on a poster-sized version of the worksheet.
This group will have the phones already put together. They will
experiment with phones made of different materials. They will fill in
their worksheets as they do this work.
Yellow
Instructions
Yellow group’s worksheet will be more writing focused. Model how it
will be done with one example of plastic cup and yarn cut to 10’.
This group will have strings, cups, yardsticks, and worksheets at their
table. They will be experimenting to see what type of material works
best.
Early Finishers Blue: They will experiment with the phones made of the same materials,
but with different lengths of string. Or, they can decorate their cups.
Yellow group: Experiment with lengths of string to see if this variable

2. can alter how well they hear out of their phones.
Wrap Up Give a five minute clean up warning, and then after five minutes have
students begin to clean up their stations. We will discuss in a group
what worked best and why they thought those materials made the best
phone.
Blue’s Worksheet:
Type of Phone
(10’ of string)
? What do you think will
happen? (Prediction)
What did you notice?
(Observation)
Plastic and Yarn
+
Plastic and Fishing Line
+
Paper and Yarn
+
Paper and Fishing Line
+
Yellow’s Worksheet:
https://www.sciencea-z.com/content/samples/2-
11_PA_TT_StringPhone.pdf?expires=2015%2F06%2F14+00%3A17%3A23&hash=FDh7PISXV
x0F%2FC43LKtrRw%3D%3D&download