Index Card Towers

 Teams working on their designs BEFORE they start building.

YahoooOOOoO!  We completed our second STEM activity on Friday.  The challenge:  Using 100 index cards, 24 inches of masking tape, scissors, and a ruler, create the tallest TOWER possible.  Each group had 10 minutes to plan with their group members and 25 minutes to build their tower. 

After building our towers, I measured each tower and recorded the heights.  As it turns out, we learned a lot more than how to build tall towers.  Our shortest tower was the STRONGEST tower and our tallest tower was built by an extremely cohesive group. 

What did we learn?

The shape of a building is important.  A strong – and wide – base helps the buildings structure and overall strength.

You don’t need tape!  The next day, I showed them how to cut slits in the index cards.  Not only can you build without tape, the index cards are really solid and strong when attached slit to slit. 

Working together is essential.  If one person tries to run the show, you miss out on everyone else’s great ideas.

These STEM activities are amazing.  They require very little in the way of supplies but allow kids to work with one anther, problem-solve, and build.  I love hearing their conversations as they work on their towers. 

We also learned that ENGINEERING is fun.

BRAVO!