Share your Gumdrop towers with us! Snap photos of your towers and the results. In 2021, the competition was held on the 30th and. Predicting, estimating, correcting errors, perseverance The Toothpick Tower Seismic Contest is designed to stimulate creativity, teamwork, and interest in buildings that can withstand earthquakes. Geometric figures (plane and 3-dimensional) Help your child brainstorm new ideas and prototypes. Does the design need to be shorter? Taller?.What can you change in the design which would help?.Why do you think the tower was not able to support the weight? For the purpose of this record, a toothpick is a short pointed piece of wood or plastic used for removing bits of food lodged between the teeth.Could a shorter or taller tower of the same design support the weight?.What geometric shapes (triangles, squares, rectangles) did you use in the tower?.Why do you think the tower was able to support the item?.Important step – analyze results by asking questions! This is an important part of the design thinking process because it teaches your child to prioritize the functionality of their design over personal preferences, and it prevents them from getting too emotionally attached to one design. Testing time! Using the chosen tower test item, gently place it on top of the Gumdrop Tower to see if the structure will remain intact!.Start building! Optional: have child measure the length, width, height of their finished structure before the weight test.After exploration, ask child to predict which ‘tower test’ item they could support on a structure.Allow time for ‘free build’ exploration so that children can practice creating structures. Start with 10 gumdrops and 20 toothpicks.Tower test items (book, water bottle (full, partially full or empty), toy, block, etc) They will then be asked to build based on what they have learned in order to successfully build a tower. Students will be given free building time as well to explore the materials before beginning the challenge. Up to 20 points for how well your group works togetherįor more great STEAM activities like this, sign up for our newsletter and we’ll send you five free exclusive STEAM challenges.Do you have extra gumdrops from Christmas baking? Put them to use in this great math challenge! In this activity, your child will use gumdrops, toothpicks and ‘tower test’ items to build and test structures. Repeat for the other two beams - your other 22.5 cm (3/4 foot) and 30 cm (1 foot) piece. You should be left with a long trapezoidal shape. Up to 20 points for the creativity of your solutionĭ. Connect the beams by placing a toothpick at the very end of the long beam, and diagonally lean it onto the short beam and glue it in place, using a couple drops of glue. 5 points if your structure is 6-8 inches in height 10 points if your structure is 9-12 inches in height 15 points if your structure is 13 or more inches in heightĬ. We love using toothpicks, eyedroppers, squeeze bottles, spray bottles, and tweezers as part of our science investigations and STEM activities. 5 points if your structure successfully holds the small pumpkin for at least 10 secondsī. MATERIALS: 1 bag of candy pumpkins, toothpicks, 1 miniature pumpkin (real or decorative)Ī. However, you can increase the difficulty of the challenge by using hard pumpkin candies.ĬHALLENGE: Using only candy pumpkins and toothpicks, build the tallest freestanding tower possible that can hold a small pumpkin. Note: Gummy pumpkin candies (as opposed to the hard pumpkin candies) are the easiest to work with for this activity. And when we add a theme to the activity, it can encourage a love for learning in a fun and meaningful way.Ĭheck out this Halloween-inspired STEAM activity and challenge your kids to build the TALLEST tower they can out of pumpkin candies and toothpicks. STEAM activities are a great way to engage little inquiring minds and help to teach kids the basics of project planning, creative problem-solving, and improving on ideas-skills that help us succeed in all aspects of our life. If you’re always on the search for STEAM activities for your children or students, you may have come across quite a few marshmallow and toothpick challenges, which are loads of fun.
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