Teacher and Student Development:
Website: Engineering Facts: Eiffel Tower Facts
Website: Engineering Facts: Empire State Building Facts
Standards Correlation:
Florida-
- SC.1.N.1-1 Raise questions about the natural world, investigate them in teams through free exploration and systematic observations, and generate appropriate explanations based on those explorations.
- SC.1.N.1.3 Keep records as appropriate- such as pictorial and written records of investigations conducted.
Photos and Hints:
As authors of this series, we try the lessons with our students. We had our students try chenille stems (pipe cleaners) first and the stems purchased were a little flimsy. Buy stiff chenille stems or adapt like we did and use straws. Giving the students four bendable straws to tape down to the floor or a table allows for them to create a sturdy base. The rest of the straws were straight so that they would be stiff enough to build a tall tower. If you do this activity early in the year you may want to cut pieces of tape and place them on the edge of the table for the students to use. This avoids tape catastrophes and helps the students build more quickly. Students really enjoyed this activity.
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Chenille stem tower base being measured. -
Pre-cut tape helps speed up the process. -
A team building a chenille stem tower -
Another chenille stem base. -
A straw tower. -
Students use their plans in their interactive notebooks to build their design.