The Terrific Tower Challenge
By: Pooja Marella, Chandler Webb, Jada Jackson 4th Period
Objective
The objective of this activity is to have the tallest tower made out of a marshmallow, tape, spaghetti sticks, and string in under 18 minutes. The objective is also to learn about the dynamics of tower, to understand the interacting forces involved in the process of constructing a tower, and to facilitate group cooperation.
Materials
Procedure
Gather all of the materials needed for the activity.
Criss-cross three spaghetti sticks so that they intersect at one single point and form a 60 degree angle with each other. Tape the sticks at the intersecting point.
Connect each end of the spaghetti sticks with half of a spaghetti stick. Tape together the ends of the spaghetti sticks with the ends of the half spaghetti stick. The base is now complete.
Attach a spaghetti stick to each vertex on the base with tape so that it projects upward. There should be six sticks projecting upward. Connect the top ends of the spaghetti sticks with tape so that the structure appears to be a hexagonal pyramid. Tie string around the taped portion at the top to keep the spaghetti sticks from disconnecting.
Take four spaghetti sticks and tape the bottom of them to the top of the intersecting point of the six connected sticks. Tie string around the four spaghetti sticks at different points to keep them together.
At the top of the four sticks, tape and tie three more spaghetti sticks and place the marshmallow at the top.
- The tower must be built in 18 minutes or less and must stand on its own without touching anything else.