October 4th~ Day 3: Assymetry Chip-Chip-Cheery-O STEM Fans, In this rotation, we are looking at our third structure, The Spinnaker Tower. It is located in Portsmouth, England. It, among many other fantastic accomplishments, is a prime example of asymmetry in building. The Spinnaker Tower has segued us to focus on a key feature of mathematical properties in structures, as well as, bring in another scientific term: asymmetry and energy. Both of these we have discussed in class, but more importantly put to work. This week’s activity was to build a structure (a fortress) that is asymmetrical. Our session’s challenge was two-part. The first is to build an asymmetrical structure (fortress) that has 4 walls at a specified height, 1 door, 1 tower at a specified height, and an open inside area of 1 square foot. The second part of the challenge was to survive The Energy Challenge; to which I use my Energy Blaster and try to create change in their structure by blasting three different weighted spheres at their fortress. Does their structure survive the impact? This session uses a combination of every STEM key, but has refocused our Kindness, Teamwork, and Imagination Keys. If you want to continue to explore or learn about The Spinnakerl Tower at home, please visit this link to gather information and/or use Google Earth to view the building (there are some amazing pictures that have been downloaded there)! spinnakertower.co.uk/ Also, if your child has visited The Spinnaker Tower and you would like to send in a picture of him/her with the tower in the background, I will hang it on our back bulletin board! Love, Mr. Overway
Posted on: Tue, 08 Oct 2013 14:02:49 +0000