- Basic Structures
- This activity will consist of challenging the students to build a structure that can support a dictionary using only an allotted amount of gumdrops and toothpicks. We will look into basic structure design, material usage, efficiency, and structural integrity.
- Give students in groups of 2 a cup with Dots® and a box of toothpics and tell them to create a structure that will support the weight of a book and is higher than a toothpick and gumdrop (this is purposely vague to adjust the difficulty of the assignment)
- after testing have students analyze structure : 2 things that worked, two things that didn't, one thing they would have done differently.
How it really went: "can i eat my dots?" "no" "what about now?" "no" "too late" siiigh but seriously, they were very enthusiasic, loved working with candy and toothpicks, and were able to very intelligently analyze the strengths and weaknesses of their structure after. Also taught about flying buttresses, will ask tomorrow if they remember.
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