Cell Towers Discovery Challenge

• Lasers
• Mirrors
• Desks (teams push together their desks to create a larger maze on top) 
  if not available, create the mazes on the floor.
• Large piece of paper or cardboard to lay on the table/floor. (tip: If you don’t have that just draw the attractions on single pieces of paper and tape to proper location.)
• Map of your town/city
• Markers to draw the big attractions around the city (ie. the park, the lake, etc) and mark out where the obstacles will be placed and the cell towers
• Objects to create the obstacles (supplies in the class- books, boxes, etc)
• Cups (or object of your choice) to represent the cell towers 

Recommended Prerequisite Lesson: Clothesline Electromagnetic Spectrum.

As a team of telecommunications engineers, your mission is to design a maze that represents a city with a cell network and obstacles, including multiple cell stations. You’ll use lasers to model the data traveling along radio waves and mirrors to redirect that data around the city. Your challenge is to guide the “data” through your maze to reach the cell stations while avoiding the barriers.

Criteria

• The map for your course must have five real attractions from your town marked in their proper locations in relation to each other.
• Your course must have a minimum of 2 obstacles (the teacher places into your course)
• Your course must have a minimum of 3 towers (determine where to put the towers so that you avoid the barriers) 
• The laser beam must hit all your cell towers and avoid the two obstacles 

Constraints

• The size of the maze must be contained within the map
• Use no more than 10 mirrors to redirect the beam around the barriers

1. Hook: Pull out your cell phone and hold it up. Ask how many students have a cell phone and how many know how it actually works? Share that this lesson is about helping us understand how they actually work!
2. Introduce Lesson: Next show the students this image of a cell tower and ask them:
   – Have you seen something like this in your town?
   – What do you think it does?
   After writing their thoughts on the board, share that it is called a “cell tower” and explain that this lesson is about helping us understand how important they are and how they work.
3. Lay the Science Foundations:
   -Watch this video about How Cell Service Actually Works by Wendover Productions– It covers Radio Waves, Electromagnetic Spectrum, Cell Tower, Cell Networks and Binary Code. (18.55  Minutes long).
   -While watching the video, have students create a list of words that they don’t know or understand. They are creating the class lesson vocabulary list that you all will develop the definitions for along the way or assign a few to each team of kids to develop.
   -Have students share (first with their team and then with the class) three things they already knew, and then three new things they learned.
4. Design Challenge: Students design a maze to represent a city with a cell network and obstacles (multiple cell stations). They will use lasers to represent the data being transmitted over radio waves and mirrors to redirect the data around the barrier. The challenge is to get the data to the cell stations and avoid the barrier.
   – Break students into teams of 3-4
   – Each student in the team pushes their desk together to create about a 6 ft surface to construct the maze (or use the floor)
   – Teams use their town map to draw the map for their course, including 5 real attractions/buildings from your town marked in the proper location in comparison to each other. Make sure there are a minimum of 3-5 obstacles (mountains and hills, steel or concrete buildings – can be different sizes. If you have a really tall building, it is hard to get the signal over the top. The signal can not go through steel and concrete.
   – Your course must have a minimum of 3 towers (determine where to put the towers so that you avoid the barriers)
   – Students work together to design (on paper first) a rough idea of their maze.
   – Build a maze on the desktop (push each student’s desk together from the team to create about a 6 ft maze) with obstructions like books, boxes, cups, and whatever you have available in your classroom.
   – Design the placement of mirrors to overcome the barriers the maze presents so the wave can discover each cell tower.
   – The laser (wave with data) will be the “transmitter” and the cell towers will be the “receivers”. The books and other items will be the barriers/obstacles.
   – Have each team determine where the mirrors could be placed in their maze to defeat the barriers. The barriers cannot be moved, and the mirror placement should be planned before being attempted. The number of mirrors each group will need depends on the number of barriers.

Communication between Earth and the International Space Station (ISS) is done via several types of radio signals, which send bursts of energy from a transmitter to a receiver. 

The pattern of energy the receiver receives from the radio wave is converted into forms of communication we find useful, such as video, sound, and files. Radio signals are a form of electromagnetic radiation, similar to visible light, X-rays, or Wi-Fi. 

These all follow the same rules and limitations of light, and they all travel at the same speed as light ( “c” = 300,000 km/s or 670,000 mph). As with visible light, radio waves can be partially obscured or even completely blocked by objects in the way, including planets, moons, and the Sun.   (Image Source: NASA)

Have you ever experienced a situation where radio signals or Wi-Fi signals were being blocked? Explain: Some material that is transparent to visible light is actually opaque to other forms of electromagnetic radiation (such as windshield glass, which blocks UV rays). Radio, Wi-Fi, and cell phone signals can pass through some walls, depending on the material they are made of and their thickness. But many people experience a loss of these signals in the depths of buildings, especially in elevators or interior stairwells. These signals can also be blocked by tunnels, mines, or mountain ranges.

Real Barriers/Obstacles: What are barriers to data transmission?
There are many potential obstacles to wifi transmission within a home or an office building, and building materials are often the biggest culprit. In this lesson, we will focus on the top two building materials that might interfere with signal transmission. According to this blog article from Signal Boosters, the two most hindering materials are metal and concrete. 

• Metal – Metal is the ultimate blocking signal. Metal is the hardest material to penetrate because it’s a conductor of electricity. What does electricity have to do with WiFi? Radio waves are electromagnetic, meaning that metal has the ability to absorb them. Anything that has metal, such as metal blinds, doors, furniture, buildings, and walls, can greatly lessen or completely kill the WiFi signal. The more metal there is between your WiFi router and the connected device, the worse the WiFi signal will be.
• Concrete – WiFi signal does not mix well with concrete as it’s one of the thickest building materials. As a result, the WiFi signal has a hard time passing through concrete walls and floors. Especially when coupled with metal laths. The thicker the concrete, the harder it is for the signal to pierce through-even with the help of a WiFi booster, which is also referred to as a WiFi repeater or WiFi extender

How is it possible to see around corners in hallways? Explain: Mirrors are sometimes used to see around corners, especially in high-traffic areas such as busy hallways, tight alleys, or difficult-to-see driveways. A well-placed mirror can allow us to see things that are not in our direct line of sight. Light, radio, and all electromagnetic radiation are waves that travel in straight lines

Science Foundation:
Electromagnetic Spectrum & Radio Waves

Radio waves are what carry the data from cell towers to our devices. Radio waves are on the electromagnetic spectrum. Waves are defined by their high amplitude and wavelength

• Definition of Radio Waves (by Center for Science Education)
• Video about Radio Wave (by Study.com)\Tour of the Electromagnetic Spectrum Video (by Nasa)
• Electromagnetic Spectrum Video for Kids (by GenerationGenius)
• Make Some Wave Lesson Plan (by TeachEngineering)

Cell Tower Range
The article, What is a Cell Tower and How Does a Cell Tower Work? by Millmanland.com states the following about cell tower range: The range of a cell tower is not a fixed figure. That’s because there are so many variables when it comes to the range in which a cell tower connects a mobile device. The most common variables include:

• How high the antenna is over the surrounding landscape
• The frequency of the signal in use;
• The rated power of the transmitter;
• The directional characteristics of the antenna array on the site;
• Nearby buildings and vegetation absorb and reflect radio energy; and
• The local geographical or regulatory factors and weather conditions.

More Cell Tower Resources

• Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Cell Towers Video (by WilsonAmplfiers.com) 
• How Cell Tower Work: Hands-on YouTube Video (by Mr Mobile)
• How WiFi and Cell Towers Work YouTube Video (by The Explained Channel)
• How Cell Service Actually Works YouTube Video (by Wendover Productions)

5G & Frequency Bands
You will often hear the term 5G and now 6G. These are frequency bands considered mid-band.

• What are 5G Frequency Bands article (by rfpage.com)

• Cell Network: Many Cell stations make up a cell network
• Cell Station: transreceivers that serve as the primary hub for connectivity of wireless device communication. It connects one device to a network or other devices. Wireless internet uses cell towers to create a WiFi network that your devices connect to.
• Waves: the disturbance or variation that transfers energy progressively from point to point in a medium. Radio waves and millimeter waves are the foundational types of waves with regard to wireless communications
• Wavelength: the distance between identical points (adjacent crests) in the adjacent cycles of a waveform signal propagated in space or along a wire. In wireless systems, this length is usually specified in meters (m), centimeters (cm) or millimeters (mm).
• Amplitude: the maximum displacement or distance moved by a point on a vibrating body or wave measured from its equilibrium position.
• Electromagnetic Spectrum: The complete range of all types of radiation that has both electric and magnetic fields and travels in waves. The range of waves that includes radio waves, microwaves, infrared waves, visible light, ultraviolet light, X-rays, and gamma rays.
• Bandwidth: the amount of data capable of being transmitted through an internet connection in a given amount of time; not to be confused with internet speed
• Delay: a characteristic that describes the time it takes for data to travel from one endpoint to another in a telecommunications network
• Access Point: a device that creates a wireless local area network, or WLAN, usually in an office or large building. WiFi – the radio signal sent from a wireless router to a nearby device, which translates the signal into data you can see and use. This signal allows nearby devices such as computers, laptops, tablets, phones, and gaming systems to connect to the internet
• Beamforming: a technique that allows a wireless signal to focus its transmission towards a specified device or group of devices rather than allowing the signal to spread equally to any and all devices attached to a network.
• Millimeter Waves: vary in length from 1 to 10 mm, compared to the radio waves that serve today’s smartphones, which measure tens of centimeters in length. 
• Small Cell: a low-cost radio access point with low radio frequency (RF) power output, footprint and range. It can be deployed indoors or outdoors, and in licensed, shared or unlicensed spectrum.
• Full Duplex: the ability for data to be transmitted in both directions between a sender and a receiver in a single carrier at the same time
• 4G: the 4th generation of broadband wireless technology, which follows the third generation (3G) and precedes the fifth generation (5G). This generation of wireless technology allows for speeds of up to 100 megabits per second (Mbps), making it suitable for applications such as streaming high-definition video and audio. 
• 5G: the 5th generation of broadband wireless technolog,y which follows the fourth generation (4G) and precedes the sixth generation (6G). This generation of wireless technology allows for speeds of up to 20 gigabits per second (Gbps), making it suitable for applications such IoT/Smart Technologies and extended realities. 

Extension Activities

Explore:

• Connected for Good ebook
• Invisible Threads: How Communication Engineers Keep Us Connected Video
• Communications Engineering: Innovating for Tomorrow’s World Video
• What is Communications Engineering? Video
• Communication Engineering Collection

Check out the following TryEngineering Tuesday student guides:

• TryEngineering Tuesday: 5G
• TryEngineering Tuesday: Wifi and IEEE 802.11 Standard
• TryEngineering Tuesday: 5G, 6G, and the Metaverse-A Silicon Valley View
• TryEngineering Tuesday: Web3 Featuring GoKnown
• TryEngineering Tuesday: The Metaverse
• TryEngineering Tuesday: Extended Reality and 5G

Cell Tower Discovery Challenge
Student Name__________________

Communication between Earth and the International Space Station (ISS) is done via several types of radio signals, which send bursts of energy from a transmitter to a receiver. 

The pattern of energy the receiver gets from the radio wave is converted into forms of communication we find useful, like video, sound, files, etc. Radio signals are a form of  electromagnetic radiation, just like visible light, X-rays, or even Wi-Fi. 

These all follow the same rules and limitations of light, and they all travel at the same speed as light ( “c” = 300,000 km/s or 670,000 mph). And as with visible light, radio waves can be partially obscured or even completely blocked by objects that are in the way, including planets, moons, and the Sun.   (Image Source: NASA)

Have you ever experienced a situation where radio signals or Wi-Fi signals were being blocked?
Some material that is transparent to visible light is actually opaque to other forms of electromagnetic radiation (such as windshield glass, which blocks UV rays). Radio, Wi-Fi, and cell phone signals are able to pass through some walls, depending on what they are made of and how thick they are. But many people experience a loss of these signals in the depths of buildings, especially in elevators or interior stairwells. These signals can also be blocked by tunnels, mines, or mountain ranges. 

Real Barriers/Obstacles: What are barriers to data transmission?
There are many potential obstacles to wifi transmission within a home or an office building, and building materials are often the biggest culprit. In this lesson, we will focus on the top two building materials that might interfere with signal transmission. According to this blog article from Signal Boosters, the two most hindering materials are metal and concrete. 

• Metal – Metal is the ultimate blocking signal. Metal is the hardest material to penetrate because it’s a conductor of electricity. What does electricity have to do with WiFi? Radio waves are electromagnetic, meaning that metal has the ability to absorb them. Anything that has metal, such as metal blinds, doors, furniture, buildings, and walls can greatly lessen or completely kill WiFi signal. The more metal there is between your WiFi router and the connected device, the worse the WiFi signal will be.
• Concrete – WiFi signal does not mix well concrete as it’s one of the thickest building materials. As a result, WiFi signal has a hard time passing through concrete walls and floors. Especially if they are coupled with metal laths. The thicker the concrete, the harder it is for the signal to pierce through-even with the help of a WiFi booster which are also referred to as WiFi repeaters or WiFi extenders

How is it possible to see around corners in hallways?
Mirrors are sometimes used to see around corners, especially in high-traffic areas such as busy hallways, tight alleys, or difficult to see driveways. A well-placed mirror can allow us to see things that are not in our direct line of sight. Light, radio, and all electromagnetic radiation are waves that travel in straight

DESIGN CHALLENGE: Station Discovery Challenge with Obstacles

As a team of telecommunications engineers, your mission is to design a maze that represents a city with a cell network and obstacles, including multiple cell stations. You’ll use lasers to model the data traveling along radio waves and mirrors to redirect that data around the city. Your challenge is to guide the “data” through your maze to reach the cell stations while avoiding the barriers.

Criteria

• The map for your course must have five real attractions from your town marked in their proper locations in relation to each other.
• Your course must have a minimum of 2 obstacles (the teacher places into your course)
• Your course must have a minimum of 3 towers (determine where to put the towers so that you avoid the barriers) 
• The laser beam must hit all your cell towers and avoid the two obstacles 

Constraints

• The size of the maze must be contained within the map
• Use no more than 10 mirrors to redirect the beam around the barriers

Sketch Solutions

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

• PS4.A: Wave Properties – Students explore how radio waves bend, reflect, and transmit data, connecting directly to electromagnetic wave behavior.
• PS4.C: Information Technologies and Instrumentation – Using lasers and mirrors to model data transmission mirrors how engineers use waves for communication.
• ETS1.A: Defining and Delimiting Engineering Problems – Students identify obstacles in their maze and design solutions.
• ETS1.B: Developing Possible Solutions – Teams brainstorm mirror placement to overcome barriers.
• ETS1.C: Optimizing the Design Solution – Students test, refine, and optimize their maze designs to ensure data reaches all towers.

ISTE Standards for Students

• 1.4 Innovative Designer – Learners design and test communication networks using creative problem-solving.
• 1.5 Computational Thinker – Students model how data moves through networks, applying logical steps to overcome obstacles.
• 1.7 Global Collaborator – By connecting the lesson to real-world cell networks, students see how communication engineering impacts communities worldwide.

UNESCO Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

• SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure – Students learn how communication networks support modern infrastructure.
• SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth – Highlights the role of telecommunications in enabling economic activity and connectivity.
• SDG 4: Quality Education – Provides equitable access to STEM concepts through hands-on, inquiry-based learning.