How Do Cell Phones Work?
Season 3 Episode 5
Themes: Curiosity
Plot Highlights
- The StoryBots receive the question, how do cellphones work? Unsure of the answer, they prepare for transport to the outside world to find out. Bo says she knows where they should start, and she takes the group to the inside of a cell phone.
- A sound wave enters the phone and greets the StoryBots. She introduces herself as “hello,” and explains that waves move through the air in ways that produce different sounds.
- The StoryBots ask the sound wave their question, and someone else interjects that they can help answer. They meet the microphone, who tells them that she’s the first step on the sound wave’s journey to another far away cell phone. The microphone takes the sound wave and uses her magnet and wire to create an electronic copy of “Hello.”
- The electrical signal “Hello” starts traveling along a wire, and the StoryBots follow her until she reaches the electrical processor. This turns the electrical signal into a string of 1s and 0s, and the group continues following it.
- The 1s and 0s reach disappear into a disk, and the StoryBots step onto it causing them to get beamed into the sky onto a radio wave. The radio wave, named Dave, explains that he’ll take the message to a cell tower then to a switching station to be sent to its destination.
- The StoryBots land in a switching center and meet an operator played by Jennifer Garner. They ask her their question, and she explains how a message will get sent to the receiving phone based on its phone number through phone towers. She sends the StoryBots back out with the message so they can learn what happens on the receiving end.
- The StoryBots are back on the radio wave on their way to the receiving phone. When they get to the phone, they go through the same process in reverse, changing from a radio wave to a string of 1s and 0s to an electrical signal.
- They follow the electrical signal and meet the speaker, who explains how the electrical current moves his magnet which moves the speaker cone creating sound waves once again. They watch as the electrical signal becomes a “Hello” sound wave again and leaves the phone into the receiving person’s ear.
- The StoryBots return to their boss and explain how cell phones work. The episode closes with a final song about the many forms that sound takes during the process of a cell phone call.
Discussion Questions
After this episode, we encourage you to ask your child about what they learned, and to encourage their curiosity by exploring further if they’re interested in the topic. Consider some of the following questions to get you started.
- What did the StoryBots learn about cell phones in this episode? Was anything surprising to you? Which parts did you think were interesting?
- Do you have any more questions about how phones work? What about other types of technology that we use at home? If your child has any questions about how different technologies work, we encourage you to explore internet or library resources together to find out.
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