Engineers Week 2020
This year for Engineering week, 4th Class took a trip to Bray Library to meet with a local Bray Engineer to learn about the important role of being an engineer. We learned that in order for structures to be built, many engineers are needed. These include – civil, electrical, energy, mechanical, plumbing, structural and technological engineers.
We focused on structural engineering and had the opportunity to take part in a fun STEM engineering activity: ‘The Marshmallow Challenge’.
The objective of ‘The Marshmallow Challenge’:
- To construct a tower as high as possible using only uncooked spaghetti and marshmallows.
- The tallest tower would need to be able to stand unassisted.
Instructions:
- 4th class were divided into groups.
- They had only 20 minutes.
- Each group could only use the materials provided.
- They could not use any other materials to assist in the support of their tower.
- Spaghetti could be broken into smaller pieces.
The task was challenging but 4th class were extremely creative engineers and the results were very impressive.
Conclusion:
After the task was complete we talked about the following:
- If the placing of the marshmallows affected the strength of the tower.
- What other materials could be used.
- If the size of the base affected the strength of the tower.
- Whether all groups worked in the same way.
All the groups worked really hard and designed amazing towers in all different ways. The groups all agreed that teamwork was very important for this task. Well done 4th Class!
