Students first become familiar with the terms digital and analog and connect many real life examples to both types of technology. They make and use a string telephone to experience the benefits (and disadvantages!) of analog technology and then compare and contrast digital and analog photos. Finally, students model analog and digital wave transmission with a drawing activity and provide evidence for the claim that digital signals are more reliable.

Students create transverse and longitudinal waves in the lab with rope and slinkies. Then, they play with two PhET simulations and explore wave behavior with flashlights, beakers, water and oil. Finally, students analyze graphs of seismograph wave amplitude and earthquake magnitude to answer the question How is the amplitude of a wave related to the energy in that wave?