Overview
Materials
- 10 or more 3″ x 5″ index cards
- 1 roll of tape
- A small object for your structure to support (e.g. a toy car, a few blocks)
Instructions
- Identify the Problem and Constraints
- How can you build your structure so it can hold a load and not fall down?
- The load is the weight your structure must support.
- An engineering constraint is a limitation on your design. There is one constraint for this challenge:
- While you can use tape to hold your index cards together, you can’t tape your structure to the table or floor.
- How can you build your structure so it can hold a load and not fall down?
- Brainstorm Designs
- Spend a few minutes exploring different shapes you can make with your index cards. Try making a square, a triangle, and maybe even an arch.
- Which shape is the strongest? Find out by pushing down on them and rocking them side to side. Make sure to stand the shapes upright!
- Build and Test
- Use your strongest shapes to start building a structure that can hold a load while standing up.
- When you are ready to test, place your small object on top of your structure. What happens?
- Can you add more weight?
- Did it collapse?
- If it falls down, no worries. Engineers learn from what isn’t working all the time.
- Evaluate and redesign
- What worked and what didn’t? Think about any changes you would like to make. Ask yourself:
- How can tape make your structure stronger?
- What would happen if you doubled up the index cards?
- What worked and what didn’t? Think about any changes you would like to make. Ask yourself:
- Make Changes and Try Again!
- Try to make your structure even stronger.
- Or use the shapes in your design to build a bridge that can hold several objects at once.
- Share Your Results with a teacher, parent/guardian, or DiscoverE!
- You can email photos to DiscoverE at social@DiscoverE.org
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