This creativity exercise has been done nationwide with school children, as well as Fortune 500 business executives. The challenge is to make a self-supported tower that is as tall as possible using the following supplied materials: 20 sticks of spaghetti, one yard of tape, one yard of string, and one marshmallow.

Three teams took part, and all of them had a standing tower at the end! That is most unusual. The winning tower was 21″ tall.

We started with a challenge to design and build a structure using toothpicks and mini-marshmallows.

After that students made their own books. Topics included spring, the seasons, weather, and cooking.

Students’ favorite activity was the photo challenges and digital photography. Below are some of the pictures students took.

We ended the day by making “unbirthday” cards for family and friends.

Pictures by Francisco:

Pictures by Jessy:

Pictures by Journey:

Pictures by Memphis:

Pictures by Emery:

As was done in other parts of the day, we emphasized the design process with planning, building, and iterating. Students began by working in small groups to design what they planned to build by drawing it.

Working on a design challenge in a group was also a learning experience for these students. Figuring out which person would do which task and how the different parts would fit together were real word tasks which will benefit these students later on.

In the building phase, students were given a set of materials which included a piece of posterboard, Play Doh, tongue depressors, popsicle sticks, dominoes, marbles, a bell, paper cups, cardboard tubes, cardboard, string, pipe cleaners,tape, and glue. With these materials, they were to build a chain reaction style contraption (think Mouse Trap) that incorporated simple machines, such as inclined planes, pulleys, levers, and  wheels.

The chain reactions were to start with the drop of a marble with the end goal of ringing a bell. Students could not touch anything in between, and the goal was to have at least five steps in the process.

About midway through the process, students were given the opportunity to present their work and to reflect on what they were most proud of, what their biggest challenge was, and what work they still needed to do. Other students gave input and suggestions.

The final products were put on display for the school’s open house day.

The morning was spent with grade K-2 students. We began with a new marshmallow construction challenge. This one would involve small groups building towers with mini-marshmallows and toothpicks.

Before beginning, we talked about the design process and how real-world engineers begin the process by planning and designing. We talked about what might make for a good tower (strong base) and different shapes we might make (with triangles being one of the strongest structures). Then students were invited to draw a plan for what they might build.

After the designs were done, the building began. Some of the building followed the design, and some didn’t, but this too provided learning opportunities!

After the structures were built, they were put on display for the school’s open house.

Eight teams took part, and seven of them had a standing tower at the end!