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Building for Hurricanes
New activity
Participants are given simple materials and design requirements, and must plan and build a tower as tall as possible that will hold up a tennis ball while resisting the force of wind from a fan.
Open Activity
Teacher's Guide
Provides classroom connections, key concepts, connections to science standards, and additional resources.
Modification and Prep List
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Rating
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Participants Enjoyed the ActivityParticipants Learned from This ActivityActivity Instructions Were Clear and Easy to FollowWould Recommend
Related Programming Resources
Reviews
Challenging and inventive
This is an ideal project for kids of a variety of ages! I tried it with middle school students, and they enjoyed the flexibility and challenge of the project (the challenge being the limited supply options- we gave them only straws, tape, and paper). They were also interested in seeing how everyone's towers fared in the testing, and there was ample discussion about what design elements worked, and which didn't.
The simplicity of this project lends itself well to a variety of age groups; I would easily try this project with younger kids, 1-4.