S.T.E.M. at Crescent
All for STEM and STEM for All!
October STEM Challenge: Building Strong and Tall Towers
The October STEM Challenge for grades 1-5 culminated in the building of spaghetti towers using mini marshmallows as the connecting joints. Following an exploration of a few famous towers, the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Eiffel Tower, students were acquainted with the engineering ideas behind each tower. Next, an overview of the world's tallest buildings was discussed as well as the engineering feats which resulted in the building and designs of the world's first skyscrapers. Students were presented with the problems engineers faced regarding mobility, which led to the invention of better elevators as well as the need for cool air in the upper floors of tall buildings, thus leading to the invention of modern day air conditioning. Both Otis (elevators) and Carrier (air conditioning) were introduced as famous men responsible for technology we take for granted on a daily basis. The culminating exploration during the "towers" unit was an in-depth look at the world's tallest building, the Burg Khalifa in Dubai, UAE. Following are several links connected to the videos associated with these explorations. Additionally, we also briefly investigated Palm Island, Dubai's man-made island paradise of luxury.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfh4SIDcE6Q
The Eiffel Tower: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uL3vavzHlqw
The World's Tallest Buildings: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFLaWiZWOoM
Strongest Tower
This is the tower I built to show the strength in triangles. After 3 minutes, the scarecrow was still standing.
Tallest Tower
These 4th grade girls won the challenge for having the tallest tower in their class.
Strongest Student Tower
This tower held the scarecrow for 35 seconds before it began to collapse.