SPAGHETTI MARSHMALLOW TOWER BUILDING SCIENCE MODULE
PURPOSE
To demonstrate civil engineering principles.
MATERIALS
• Package of Small Marshmallows
• Package of Spaghetti
METHOD
Many forces are at work on towers. Gravity and the dead load of the tower push down, the ground pushes back up m and small air movements push from the side. A foundation distributes the load into the surrounding ground material and can help balance the sideways wind force. The size of the foundation depends on the strength of the supporting ground. A foundation placed in rock can be smaller than a foundation placed in sand or mud.
NOTE: Encourage the kids to brainstorm all of the ways they can alter the structure. Encourage them to think about shapes and stability. Squares are weak, triangles are strong. Let the kids discover triangular trusses. Reinforce that looking at what other groups are doing is okay; this is a competition, but also a chance to learn from others students discoveries.
Variations:
- Build towers with one piece of newspaper and one yard of masking tape. The strength of a building material can depend on how it is used. Pleating or rolling paper can increase its stiffness. By crumpling, bolding, and otherwise reshaping the flimsy flat sheets and by forming a wide base, kids can make the newspaper stand up.
- Build a tower as high as you can using only cups.
- Build a bridge using only straws and paper clips.
DISCUSSION
How tall of a structure can you build by sticking the spaghetti into the marshmallows?
