Steam Day: Three Little Pigs: The Forces of Wind

The school theme for STEAM day today was Forces and Motion.  Middle school focused on wind forces. 

The first class today was spent talking about the engineering of buildings to factor in wind forces on tall skyscrapers.  We watched a few videos that talked about how buildings are designed and what engineers do to create buildings that not only withstand wind but can also harness the wind's power to make electricity. 

After the videos and with the new information they learned, students got into groups of four and designed a building design that they felt would withstand the greatest forces of wind. 

In the second class today, students were given select materials (tin foil, clay, popsicle sticks, toothpicks, and construction paper).  With these materials and their design ideas,  the team that created the tallest building that could withstand the big bad wolf (aka:  a hair dryer at high speed, 12 inches from the top of their building) would win a prize.  The students were into it!!!!! 

The winning team today had a building that stood at 19 inches tall without budging.