It has been an exciting time in grade three as the students in my class and Ms. Lewis’ class worked collaboratively in groups of 4-5 to design and build a stable structure that measured 60 cm in height, consisted of three levels, and which could sustain the load of as many math textbooks as possible. Together, the students in each group came up with a name for their group’s design and construction company, designed a company logo, and made blueprints of and modifications to their plans. All groups were provided with the same type and amount of materials to work with (large cardboard squares cut from pizza boxes, masking tape, and paper towel tubes). It was amazing to watch these young minds at work, literally thinking outside of the (pizza) box!

Our student construction teams tested the strength and stability of their structures on Tuesday and Wed. of this week. During the test period, the students first presented their team logo, then highlighted where they thought their structure was strong and reinforced… and then where they thought their structure would fail (the failure location(s)). Each team also predicted how many textbooks they thought their structure would hold before collapsing. The height of the structure was measured before testing (again, each structure had to be exactly 60 cm tall). Finally, the load was added…and the fun began!

Congratulations to Build Better and its group members: David, Marwah, Kayson, and Ziyi! Their structure tied the all-time grade 3 record of supporting a load of 22 textbooks before collapsing!