What were the challenge of the design task ?
How did your design ultimately fail?
THE STRONGEST PAPER TOWER CHALLENGE Materials:
- 4 sheets of 8.5" x 11" sheet of white paper
• 12" of tape
• Plenty of pennies (2.5g) and/or nickels (5g)
• Ruler and scissors
Goal:
Build a tower that balances height with strength to maximize points.
Rules:
• May work in teams of 3-4
• You have 20 minutes to complete your design prior to loading
• Your tower must be at least 12" (30.5 cm) tall
• The tower must be built on a flat surface and cannot be attached to that surface
• No pennies can be used within the first 12 inches of the tower height
• The measurement to be used for the "height of the tower" in the points calculation will be the height of the lowest penny or nickel in your design
• The tower must hold the weight of the final penny count for at least 10 seconds!
Points Calculation:
Points = [height of tower in inches - 111 * [number of pennies + 2"(number of nickels)]
For example:
13" high tower that supports 50 pennies is worth 100 points. 2 * 50 = 100
15" high tower that supports 25 pennies is worth 100 points. 4 * 25 = 100
31" high tower that supports 5 pennies is worth 100 points. 20 * 5= 100
31" high tower that supports 30 pennies and 10 nickels is worth 1000 points.
[31 - 11] * [30 + 2*10I = 1000