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For our third lesson, we had the kids make paper towers. We first did a recap of what we taught the previous week which was genetics and we also talked a little about genetic engineering. Then we started the lesson by teaching the kids about force, pressure, and area. We asked the students if they would prefer to be stepped on by a high heel or a flip flop and then related that back to how a force over a smaller area creates greater pressure. We also talked about center of mass. Then we gave them the assignment of building towers out of just paper, index cards, paper clips, and tape. At first the students were a little skeptical that they could build a tower out of these materials, but then the teacher told them that last year one of her students built a tower that held around 16 math textbooks. Then the students were really intrigued and more motivated to build the towers. The teacher guided them in the right direction by mentioning a triangle as a good shape to build the tower in. Before handing out the materials, each group of students was given time to plan out their design. Once the students received their materials they were allowed to trade the materials they did not need in for other materials that they needed more of. The students spent most of the time building their tower. After all the students were done building their tower, we tested each tower with the math books. Some towers held 7 or 8 books while others only held 1 or 2, but the students were able to see which designs worked the best and which did not.
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