This article describes how our common addiction to cell phones was used to launch a discussion about their use, impacts on the environment, and connections to issues of civic concern. By encouraging middle school science students to adopt the perspectives of special-interest groups debating communication tower restrictions designed to protect migratory songbird populations in a role play, they were connected to language arts and social studies in a meaningful way while their attention was focused on the larger impacts of cell phone use. (Contains 3 figures.)