Spaghetti Tower Marshmallow Challenge
Governed by National Society of Hispanic Engineers, Engineering Student Council Contact Info:i.surbrook@memphis.edu
The goal of the game is to give each team a set of supplies to construct the tallest tower or building using the provided materials and the given time. The structure that the team builds will have to be able to support one marshmallow being dangled from the middle of the top of the structure. The teams that create the structure that can withstand the weight of the marshmallow without collapsing win. Repeat the game with students as long as the duration of the game lasts or while supplies last.
- 20 Sticks of Dry Spaghetti
- One yard of string
- One yard of tape
- One Marshmallow
Instructions:
- Set up supplies for each team.
- Explain the challenge: To build the tallest tower possible that will support a marshmallow, in 10 minutes.
- Set a timer for 10 minutes.
- Inform team to begin.
Purpose / Learned:
The end goal is for students to try to understand the different support constraints that different shapes have on the structure they have built and what adjustments can be made.
- Problem solving / Critical thinking.
- Triangles are good shapes for these structures.
- Collaborative work is efficient.
- Iteration and prototyping are important to the process.
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