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Draft Detectives
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In this two part activity, learners become draft detectives by constructing their own draft catchers to detect drafts around windows or doors.
Canine House of Cards
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This simple construction activity teaches the importance of architectural structure. Learners build and test designs for a paper "doghouse" strong enough to hold the weight of a jumbo dog biscuit.
What Gives?
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In this activity, learners design, build and test a model suspension bridge for sturdiness and strength.
As Straight as a Pole
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In this engineering activity (page 3 of PDF), young learners investigate how a pole can be made stable by “planting” its base in the ground or adding supports to the base.
Designing a Wall
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In this engineering activity (page 5 of PDF), young learners investigate how materials and design contribute to the strength of a structure, particularly walls.
Build A Treetop Walkway
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Build and test a scale model of a rainforest canopy walkway.
File Card Bridges
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With two stacks of books and a few rolls of pennies, build two kinds of bridges--a beam span and an arch span--and see how much weight each of them can hold.
Paper Bridges
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In this activity, learners build bridges using paper and explore how much weight each bridge design can support.
Straws and Pins
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In this activity, learners build bridges and cantilevers in a series of "building out" challenges with straws and pins.
Paper Bridge
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In this engineering activity, challenge learners to construct a paper bridge that can support 100 pennies.
Under Pressure
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In this simple activity, learners discover how a mere piece of paper can be used to hold up the weight of a heavy book.
Stranded
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What's a more compelling problem to solve than being stranded on a deserted island?
Clay Beams and Columns
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In this activity, learners make or use pre-made clay beams to scale and proportion. Specifically, they discover that when you scale up proportionally (i.e.
Build a Bridge
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In this activity, learners use recycled materials to build a bridge that holds as many potatoes as possible. They investigate weight, height, strength, and measurement as they seek design solutions.
Garden Poles
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In this activity, learners build large-scale structures and cantilevers in a series of "building out" challenges with garden poles and tape.
Thrill Ride
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In this activity, learners will build a roller coaster for a marble to run on using everyday household materials such as paper towel or toilet paper rolls, cups, boxes, books, buckets, chairs, etc.
Sticky Structures
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In this engineering/design/arts and crafts activity, learners design and build "platforms" or "bridges" that can hold weight, and test which glue makes the strongest structure.
Three Little Pigs
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In this activity, leaners explore building techniques by recreating the story of The Three Little Pigs.
Build a Super Structure
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In this activity, learners use things from the kitchen as building materials to explore how shapes contribute to the strength of different structures.
Super Golf Tower
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In this engineering activity, challenge learners to build a tower out of 10 sheets of newspaper and 3 feet of masking tape, which can hold a golf ball balancing at the top.