Materials (per team):
- 1- large marshmallow
- 1- yard of masking tape
- 1- yard of string or yarn
- 20- sticks of raw spaghetti (must be spaghetti; not spaghettini, fettucini, etc.)
Prepare a brown bag for each team containing the required supplies. Brown bags help to hide the materials students will use and also provide a bit of suspense! Tell students they will be building the tallest structure that they can using the materials in the bag. Work with students to determine the rules for measuring and determining which structure is the tallest.
Working in teams of 4-5, students work for 20 minutes to build the tallest free-standing tower possible with the entire marshmallow on top. Teams may work together, divide the work, assign tasks, etc. Students may break the spaghetti and/or the tape and may use as much or as little of the materials as they need.
After 20 minutes, bring students together to measure the structures. If time permits, students may review the Engineering Design Process and redesign their structures based on the data they gathered while structures were being measured.
So, what did we learn? National Science Standards: strength of structures, scientific inquiry, applying the design process, force and motion, abilities of technological design. Other Skills: Team-building, cooperative learning, decision making,
Note: This activity can also be used with adults as an ice-breaker or team-building exercise. Check out the supplemental TED video "Build a Tower, Build a Team" by Tom Wujec, AutoDesk Fellow for some fun data on this project.
