Structures – Building Big

Engineering Science
Time 1 hour
Age 7 & up
Group Size 4 or more
Tags Building, Problem Solving, Shapes,   more...
Structures Teamwork

What are the basic shapes used to build a sturdy structure?

By observing buildings and construction sites, students can see the shapes, forms and materials used to create the structures we live, work and play in. Using dowels and rubber bands, your students will sharpen their engineering skills as they work together to create a series of structures. Working collaboratively, students will communicate with each other as they investigate the variables that affect their structure, test its sturdiness and improve upon their design.

Preparation

Make sure you have enough dowels and rubber bands for each team (15-20 dowels, 15-20 rubber bands per team).

Structures – Building Big
Share Print

Suggested Materials

  • Wooden dowels (5-foot length; ½-inch diameter, 50–75 for the class)
  • Thick rubber bands (#64)
1

Make it Matter

Opening Discussion

If you did the activity, refer to the list that the students created in the Structures activity, detailing their ideas on what shapes are strongest. Ask them if they think these rules apply to all materials or just to paper and straws.

If you are beginning with this activity, and if the option is available to you, you should consider taking a walk in the neighborhood around your afterschool center and encouraging your students to really take notice of the buildings. Who uses these structures? What are they made of? What shapes and colors do they see? Your children may notice that the shapes most often visible in completed buildings are squares and rectangles. If you can, bring your students to a building construction site. What shapes do they see in the exposed beams?

Once back in your classroom, start the activity by having a discussion about what types of shapes they saw in buildings in the neighborhood. Ask the children which shapes they think are the strongest. You may get several different answers. Make sure to write all answers up on chart paper or a dry erase/chalk board.

The Challenge

Challenge your students to build large structures using dowels and rubber bands.

2

Make it Happen

Doing the Activity

  1. Divide your students into teams of 3 or 4.
  2. Show your kids the materials and tell them that you would like them to build as sturdy a structure as they can using only 15 dowels and thick rubber bands.
  3. Allow your students to spend some time investigating the dowels and rubber bands so they can better acquaint themselves with the advantages and constraints of these building materials. Have them start by judging if their rules on stable shapes hold true with dowels as they did with the straws and oak tag. Once the teams are comfortable with the materials, have them start constructing. Give each team 15 dowels. Have them begin to build a strong frame that stands on its own.
3

Make it Click

Let’s Talk About It

After 10–15 minutes of activity, stop your students and bring them together to discuss what they’ve done so far. This discussion should last no more that a few minutes. What have they discovered? Have them share ideas, successes and challenges with each other, and look for ideas around connecting dowels together with the rubber bands, which shapes they are using, etc.

4

Make it Better

Build On What They Talked About

After this brief discussion, send the teams back to their structures to finish their construction. Once the frame is erected, they can fill in portions, cover it, decorate it or build additional parts with other materials that you provide. Have each team share their structure and ask them to talk about their design, highlighting something that they changed as they were building.

Suggestions

  • Using straws as they did in the Structures activity, challenge students to build a sturdy house or bridge, or the tallest tower they can. You can test the strength of these structures by hanging a cup (an unfolded paper clip makes a great hook to hang a paper or plastic cup with), adding weight such as nails or small metal washers to the cup one at a time until the structures collapse. Count how many nails or washers were in the cups before each structure collapsed. This will give you a chance to compare the sturdiness of different designs.
  • Learn about a structure by slowly taking it apart. Have each team deconstruct their dowel “buildings”. Which pieces seem most important in keeping the structure together and holding it up? Remove one dowel at a time until the entire structure becomes unstable.
  • Challenge the teams to build a structure that is large enough to fit their entire team inside. You can challenge them to create a structure that fits anywhere from 6 to 20 people. You should combine some of the teams or do this activity as an entire class. Can the teams create a structure large enough for every participant to get inside? Is the structure still very stable? How many dowels did it take?
Print Friendly