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Community Broadband Planner

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Grades 6-875-90 minSource: Creative Dad Company

Students plan internet coverage for a mock town. They model how a signal gets weaker with distance and rough land, then find the fewest towers or access points that can reach everyone within a budget. It is geometry in action, with a focus on fairness.

Budget levels

Amazon prices checked Oct 9-10, 2026 and may change

Materials links go to Amazon. Prices are estimates and may change. As an Amazon Associate, Creative Dad Company earns from qualifying purchases.

Quick Start

Digital downloads only.

$0 to buy. Printing noted separately.

Student time: one class period, one day.

Teacher prep / build-ahead: separate from student time.

Scale it

The default plan is one class period on a single day.

Scale back: Fit it into a shorter period, use fewer effects, or run a demo instead of a build.

Scale up: Add one extra effect, or spread the share-out across another day.

Ambiance video

Ambiance video coming soon from Creative Dad Studio

  • School device with free Wi-Fi signal appBorrow or school hasuse what you have
  • compass for drawing circlesBorrow or school hasuse what you have

Full Experience

Required materials for the class.

$0 per class (class of about 30, 6 groups).

Student time: one day.

Teacher prep / build-ahead: separate from student time.

Scale it

The default plan is one school day.

Scale back: Fit the build into one period with fewer effects.

Scale up: Spread the work across days, or add more effects.

Total Transformation

The bigger kit, with every optional item included.

$0 per class (class of about 30, 6 groups).

Student time: one day (one session, one-day event).

Teacher prep / build-ahead: separate from student time.

Scale it

The default plan is one session, a one-day event.

Scale back: Shorten the event, or run a demo for a smaller audience.

Scale up: Spread the build and the event across days, or invite a bigger audience.

Materials

Map of a mock town's land and population (teacher-prepared); Compass or round templates for coverage circles; Budget figures for towers; School device with free Wi-Fi signal app; compass for drawing circles

Materials links go to Amazon. Prices are estimates and may change.

As an Amazon Associate, Creative Dad Company earns from qualifying purchases.

  • Compass or round templates for coverage circles

    Compass or round templates for coverage circles

    No link

Steps

  1. Do a quick signal test: use a school device Wi-Fi signal app to measure strength at 5, 10, 20 and 30 steps from a router, and again behind a wall. Graph how the signal weakens with distance and obstacles.
  2. Write criteria and constraints. Criteria: at least 90 percent of households covered, cost per household under $300 using the provided price sheet, and every neighborhood reached. Constraints: total budget, tower range (smaller in hills or forests based on your test), and land rules. Note impacts on families without access. List one impact on the natural environment, such as clearing trees or disturbing wildlife habitat to build towers, and add a constraint: no towers inside the marked forest or wetland areas on the map.
  3. Study the mock town map of land and population. Predict where signal will be weakest.
  4. Make at least two different tower or access-point layouts, drawing coverage circles that shrink in rough terrain.
  5. Calculate percent of households covered and cost per household for each layout.
  6. Score every layout in a decision matrix against the criteria and constraints, and check whether any low-income or rural neighborhood is left out.
  7. Present the winning plan to a mock town council with the matrix, percent covered and cost per household.

Standards mapped

  • NGSS · MS-ETS1-1

    Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.

  • NGSS · MS-ETS1-2

    Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.