Lesson 1 - How far can a whisper travel?

Activity: Paper Cup Telephone

Can I shorten the string length?

We don’t recommend using a shorter string length, since students will need to be far enough apart from each other so that they can’t hear their partner whispering.

We know cutting the lengths of string for the whole class can be time-consuming. Check out our Paper Cup Telephone Teacher Tips worksheet for an easy way to prepare the strings all at once!

Can I use styrofoam cups instead of paper cups?

While teachers have had some success with styrofoam cups, we don’t recommend using styrofoam since the transfer of sound won’t work as well.