Report Copyright Infringement View in OSM UK

Description

making a telephone system from polystyrene cups and string.

Resources

2 cups per child, string. Also consider yoghurt pottles, fishing line, sharp pencil or sewing needle

Instructions

make a hole in the bottom of the cup, attach the string and two children take the telephone - one either side of a door... can you hear your partner.... how does the sound travel??

What's happening?
Speaking into the cup creates sound waves which are converted into vibrations at the bottom of the cup. The vibrations travel along the string and are converted back into sound waves at the other end so your friend can hear what you said. Sound travels through the air but it travels even better through solids such as your cup and string, allowing you to hear sounds that might be too far away when traveling through the air.

Tie in with Communicator by asking the Cubs to Send and Receive messages, checking what they have written down together at the end.
Tie in with Scientist - Energy - by discussing the way sound energy waves travel from your voice to the cup, to the string, to the cup and into your ears again!

Tags

• cups telephone

Badge Links

• Communicator - Message
• Scientist - Other