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Satellite Emergency Network

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Grades 6-860-75 minSource: Creative Dad Company

Students design a backup emergency network that keeps working when cell towers and the normal internet go down. They use simple relay and range ideas to plan coverage. It is strong-systems thinking for a very real disaster.

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

  • Printed map copiesPrintinguse what you have
  • decision matrix sheetPrintinguse what you have

Full Experience

Required materials for the class.

$22.77 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.

  • compasses or string for coverage circlesRequired1 x 328 ft328 ft$4.69Amazon
  • rechargeable batteriesRequired1 x 12 batteries12 batteries$18.08Amazon

Total Transformation

The bigger kit, with every optional item included.

$22.77 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 region; Walkie-talkies; Paper for the network design; Building or yard for range tests; Printed map copies; compasses or string for coverage circles; decision matrix sheet; rechargeable batteries

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

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

  • Walkie-talkies

    Walkie-talkies

    No link

  • Paper

    Paper for the network design

    No link

Steps

  1. Map a region where towers have gone down. As a team, write a design brief. Criteria: at least 90 percent of map households reached and every zone within 2 relay hops. Constraints: no more than 4 relays, no more than 8 rechargeable batteries, relay spacing no greater than the measured clear range from step 2, and no relay placed in a flood zone. Note how walls and metal absorb or block radio waves and how this affects the people you can reach. List at least one impact the network could have on the natural environment (for example used batteries thrown away, or relays placed in wetlands or trees used by wildlife) and turn it into a written constraint, such as all batteries are rechargeable and no relay is placed in protected habitat.
  2. Measure real walkie-talkie range around the building or yard and record the distance where speech becomes unclear, indoors and outdoors. Write this number into the spacing constraint.
  3. Design at least two different relay layouts on copies of the map, using the measured ranges to draw coverage circles, and count households reached.
  4. Test each layout by walking it with walkie-talkies, recording which zones get a clear signal and which are dead zones.
  5. Score each layout in a decision matrix: percent of households reached, hops per zone, number of relays, battery count, spacing, the environmental constraint, and what happens if one relay fails. Mark any layout that breaks a constraint, weight the criteria from your brief, and total the scores.
  6. Pick the winning layout, then fix its weakest score by adding or moving one relay (staying within the limits), and retest that zone.
  7. Present the final emergency plan with the design brief, decision matrix, coverage map, and the failure test result.

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.