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Building for Hurricanes

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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.

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Teacher's Guide

Provides classroom connections, key concepts, connections to science standards, and additional resources.

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  • Rating 
  • Participants Enjoyed the Activity 
    Participants Learned from This Activity 
    Activity Instructions Were Clear and Easy to Follow 
    Would Recommend 

Related Programming Resources

Related Links Building for Hurricanes: Fundamental Science Concepts Blog
National Hurricane Center
NOAA Hurricanes
Climate Kids
How does a Hurricane form?
What’s happening in the ocean?
Wild Weather Adventure!

Videos:
Ocean Explorer: Hurricanes
Originating Source NASA GPM
Related Books
[Suggest a book]
Earthquake!: The 1906 San Francisco Nightmare by Lynn Brunelle
A Project Guide to Earthquakes by Claire O'Neal
What Protects Us During Natural Disasters? by Lisa Owings
Can We Protect People From Natural Disasters? by Catherine Chambers
Hurricanes by Gail Gibbons
Avalanche and Landslie Alert! by Vanessa Walker
Rosie Revere's Big Project Book for Bold Engineers
Engineered!: Engineering Design at Work
Engineer Academy, by Steve Martin and Nastia Sleptsova
Eye of the Storm : A Book about Hurricanes by Rick Thomas and Denise Shea
Sergio and the Hurricane by Alexandra Wallner
Iggy Peck, Architect by Andrea Beaty

Reviews

 
Rating 
Participants Enjoyed the Activity 
Participants Learned from This Activity 
Activity Instructions Were Clear and Easy to Follow 
Would Recommend 
05/01/2018

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.

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Building for Hurricanes

Building for Hurricanes

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.