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I used many triangles in my tower as the base and flat pieces of flashcards to hold it together as “glue”. I knew that triangles are the strongest base for buildings so that's why I decided to use a triangular base and throughout my tower.

What worked well: The strong base of the triangles helped my tower stay strong as well as having the base long and bigger. It created the base to be strong and sturdy which was very important.

What didn't work well: At first I had the base to be much smaller and thinner, which in that case, the tower actually fell. However, the biggest problem was making the index cards into triangles. Even though I was folding them in half, some were taller than others, some were fatter than others, and they were not all made equally. This made for an uneven and wiggly base that initially fell and then the second time around I was constantly fixing.

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My tower was able to stand and hold my stuffed animal. There is definitely a pattern of lots of triangle shapes within my structure because that was the best shape to create a study structure. I think it definitely worked well that I started with a wider base and then my second layer of cards was slightly smaller so it didn't cave in. One challenge I faced was how the cards would slide around once I placed the stuffed animal on them, but I was able to fix this issue by adding more tape.

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I think you're so right when you mentioned that engineering is a great interactive and hands on tool that teachers can use. I agree with you that we need those critical thinking skills for everything and any subject in life, so practicing this without being pressured or with this not being a high stakes activity, allows the students to take their time with it. I like how you made yours with triangles! I did the same and I like how you made it long ways to make a stronger base.

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I like how you mentioned the SEL and that failure is ok throughout this activity. I was just talking about this in one of my classes, that teachers need to reassure and reaffirm to their students that you won't get everything the first time, nor will there be one straight path to get to the answer. I'm looking at your tower and yours reminded me of an "Angry's Bird" tower which was so calm and different from mine, which was built on triangles. I also see that you use tape and I did not use any video in mine. I read that you were frustrated and angry with this assignment because it didn't work for you and was very free-lance. Some students are like this, however, I think this is a great teaching opportunity for even you to point out and say that you didn't get it and it's ok because you tried and you learned something. Plus the students will always remember that, you didn't get it on the first try, but you tried.

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Hi Angelina! I found it so cool that you used cylinders to create this tower. I really never thought of it that way and the fact that it stood up is sick. I like how you mentioned in your video that this activity and engineering specifically, helps with students to think critically about problem solving ad design. This is a fun way for them to experience and to play with science, without it actually feeling like doing work. I think that its awesome that you tried again after your first attempt of the tower falling. It shows great resilience and trusting the process of failure which is so important to implement throughout a classroom. Also the idea that there is not one straight answer to do all of these towers or activities, but that it can be done in a multitude of ways.

- Arianna Irizarry

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I started with a foundation for my tower in order to prevent it from sliding everywhere and to have stable ground. My stuffed animal was kind of large and top-heavy. With this in mind, I decided to build a few levels, three at most, but it was hard to balance my stuffed animal the taller the tower got. My stuffed animal was also wide, which meant that I needed more surface area. I found that not necessarily a pattern, but the idea to roll the index cards, to provide more space, allowed for more surface area to be supported. I also staggered the rolled cards for each level I built to support the entire level of flat index cards placed. The index cards worked only to a certain height, by the time I reached the third level, the index cards were too thing to support my stuffed animal. I did not think of it at the moment, but I could have rolled the index cards inside each other to make them denser! Having a sturdy foundation though helped support the rolled flash cards.

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Some shapes included in my tower were the flat ones being arranged like rectangles, and the rolled ones being placed to form a trapezoid or parallelogram.

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I tried to use a different method at first using triangles but it was not strong enough to hold up the stuffed animal. That is when I decided to make the flashcards into squares to give the tower something stronger to build on which ended up working really well.

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Some parts of my design that worked well for me was using triangle shapes for the base of the tower. I folded the index cards down the middle, causing them to still be wide which created the strong base. For the middle portion of the tower, I folded the index cards the long way in order to create hight for my tower and help make it 1 foot tall. Something else that worked well for me was putting a single pillar in the middle of the 4 tall pillars in order to provide strong support to that area. A part of the design that did not work well for me was creating the "floor" that is in between the middle and top sections of the tower. This did not work as well because it created a smaller flooring for the third layer of the tower due to the hight vs. width aspect of the second layer, which in return caused me to use less index cards and make the tower not as strong.

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The first triangles was used in the 1st and 3rd layers and the second triangle was used in the 2nd layer.

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got it to hold this big squishmallow

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I think the design ended up being pretty strong considering how slim/compact it was, since I wanted it to be like a pedestal. However it was not very well balanced with something as big as that on it. When I put something smaller like my tape dispenser on it it was fine.

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As I tried my first attempt it did not work because of the weight of the stuff animal. I thought to put the flashcard in between the triangles for extra support in holding the walls up. That also did not work, the flashcards kept bending down with lightly placing the stuff animal on top. I knew the triangle walls needed to be thicker so I added more card to the walls for a sturdy hold and that worked! I had a lot of triangle and line patterns.

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My tower did in fact hold my stuffed animal! However, since the stuffed animal was about 4.5 inches wide, it was not being sustained on a tower that was the width of one index card, which is about 3.5. Therefore, in order to make it work, I had to construct another identical tower and tape the two together at each flat base. This created a base that was 7 inches wide, which was the perfect width to balance my stuffed animal. When constructing my tower, I at first started to roll the index cards up in the form of cylinders. However, there was not enough surface area to hold up and balance each additional level of the tower let alone withstand the weight of something as light as a stuffed animal. Therefore, I altered my design plan and created rectangular prisms out of the index cards and taping them to the base. The rectangles worked perfectly because they provided enough surface area to balance additional levels on top of one another. Having six on the bottom level allowed for a strong foundation for the tower. Then having five on the top level, with one rectangle in the center allowed for the stuffed animal to balance properly without falling through the center of tower. Even though I ran into a few problems along the way, I think my overall design plan was successful!

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My tower did hold up a stuffed animal. I started off thinking maybe I would make triangle shapes, but I ultimately decided to use cylinders. I started by making only one row on top of the other, but I found that that wasn't stable enough. So, with that in mind, I decided to add another identical side that would be able to distribute the weight a bit better. I found that keeping the cylinders closer together worked better for me because they were able to hold more weight when they were closer together. I used flat index cards as a platform, in hope that it would give enough space for my stuffed animal to lay down, and that worked really well. I didn't want to go too high with my tower, because I thought it may end up a bit wobbly by the time the stuffed animal was on, so i kept it shorter.

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The only thing that did not work well, was the flimsiness of the cards, so a stronger material would have been more efficient. The V structure worked very well as they covered a lot of the base of the animal, and using multiple allowed strong support beams. The flat surfaces were just to give it a platform for extra security. If it was just on the Vs it may have fallen because it would not be entirely flat.

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I also said that engineering helps with communication and problem solving skills! I think your tower came out great! I used triangles in my design too in order to create a strong base. I like your design and that you added more triangles inside your original triangles to make your tower stronger.

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I like your thought about bringing the problem solving skills learned through engineering into other aspects of a student's learning. My tower used triangles, but in a different pattern. My first base was also wider than my second base which helped create a stronger tower. I liked the pattern you used and think your tower came out great!

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The design of your tower came out awesome! I didn't think of using round pillars when I created my tower. I wonder for my tower if I decided to use the round pillar strategy vs. the triangle strategy if my tower could have held more weight. I also wonder how much taller your tower could have been and still held sturdy with the round pillars? Definitely a future experiment to do!

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Originally I was going to do the triangle method but very quickly I decided that in the time limit that I had it was not going to work. My cards were sliding all over the place and I had to change my pattern. Then I started rolling the cards and realized I rolled them too skinny, so I started rolling them kind of fat and it worked really well. I started with 8 and kept adding more to the bottom layer so it was sturdy. Once I had enough I placed the flat index cards on top to create another level. I continued this method and it worked really well. I think if I did it wider it would have been even more effective. If I did not establish a strong base I am not sure each layer would have held up. I honestly was not sure I was going to be able to make the stuffed animal stay when I started, but after many alterations it worked!

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Your tower came out great! I like how you used index cards in the middle like that in order to add more support. I also used flat index cards like that in order to add a second row, and to be used as a base for the stuffed animal. -Emma Scopa

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Your tower came out great! I like how you used index cards in the middle like that in order to add more support. I also used flat index cards like that in order to add a second row, and to be used as a base for the stuffed animal. -Emma Scopa

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The part of my design that worked well was the way I rolled the note cards, making them stronger to hold up my stuffed animal.

The part of my design that didn’t work well and took longer to figure out was the base. It took me a couple of tries to finally create a base that would hold the rest of my index cards and my stuffed animal.

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Hi Emily! I like how you tapped multiple flash cards together to create a large supporting cylinder! It's hard to find a good support and base, because if the foundation isn't sturdy, the rest of the structure won't be, and then you have to start from the ground up. I had a good base, but kept having to start over because my support was not working well. Maybe I should have tried to incorporate a square shape like you did!

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Hi Serena! You're tower looks great! And I never really thought about the communication aspect of engineering. I felt the same way about needing to add thicker walls or how to make the index cards thicker to have a stronger support to hold up my stuffed animal. -Cassidy Tobiasz

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Hey Bailey. Your tower looks great, and the way you went about your design to create a safe and structured base, was similar to my thinking as well. I feel as though most of us had originally gone thinking about how to create a strong base as the first step to solving the problem at hand. I also thought about the importance of engineering being a hands on and inclusive experience for students! -Cassidy Tobiasz

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Why is teaching engineering so important?

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Why is teaching engineering so important?

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I used a pattern of cylinder-shaped and taped flashcards as bones. I also used the flat and rectangular flashcards as a floor for each layer!!

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I thought my design worked very well. It worked on the first try, and I did not have to redo anything. I think the bones of the structure were a great idea for building height quickly and steadily. I also think having floors in between was a good way to keep structure in the tower as it built height. I did not have my tower knock down at all, which proves my hypothesis. It also did not wobble when I put Pasquale on the top! One thing that did not go perfectly was rolling the flash cards up. They were not perfectly cylindrical which would have hindered the sturdiness of the tower in some way. Luckily, the building project went pretty smoothly, though.

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Hi Molly! I had almost the same building idea as you. I am impressed that you got a bigger stuffed animal on there though! I say you win this round. I also thought of a few different methods for building, but I agree that this one was probably the most time friendly one I could think of. I wonder, how long did this take you from start to finish to build? Mine took around 20 minutes, maybe 15.. but that is including taping all the flash cards up. The actual construction took around 7 minutes. Good job!!

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Megan Giordano Responds to Bailey Meglan

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Megan Giordano Responds to Bailey Meglan

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Hi Bailey! I think your tower s the most interesting one I have looked at. I think it is the most creative and very out of the box. I would have never used this design, but I am so happy you did! The design mimics a bridge idea rather than a tower, which is an exciting aspect for this assignment. I wonder, did your tower fail at all before it succeeded? Great work!

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Megan Giordano Responds to Angelina Sangiovanni!

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Megan Giordano Responds to Angelina Sangiovanni!

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Hi Angelina! I think you did a great job with your tower. I thought it was interesting that you had a very similar design to me, but executed it a little bit differently than me. It looks like you taped up a bunch of cylindrical flash cards as your bones and used flat floors like me, but you used more of the cylindrical ones to make it wider and perhaps more sturdy than mine. I took the approach of building it up as much as I could with as little bones as possible, but your idea may have been a smarter one in terms of sturdiness. Great work!