The Tower of Power

Anticipation was buzzing in the halls in the morning of April 21st; it was the day of the Tower Design Competition. All MYP students were competing in the same design challenge, to build the strongest 50cm tall freestanding tower from only 250 popsicle sticks and hot glue. After months of researching, planning, and building, it was finally time to find out which tower was the strongest.

This project began back in February, when students began learning everything they could about tower designs. They conducted research and found the structural elements that would lend load-bearing strength to their designs. They analyzed existing towers and found that certain shapes were stronger than others, and that support beams increase a tower’s overall stability. With the research to support their ideas, students began writing detailed building plans. The students knew they would only get one chance and limited materials to build their towers, so a lot of time went into planning out how each popsicle stick would be used most effectively.

The design classes were full of excitement and energy as the students worked in teams to build their towers. The process was slow and meticulous, but everyone was fully engaged in the construction phase. It was up to the students to build. a tower that would be both balanced and strong.

The final test was a daunting one, students would have to stack over 60 Kg on the tower without it breaking. Students held their breaths as they stacked up the weights on top of the structure they had been building for months. One after another, the towers collapsed under the weights, causing shrieks of delight and disappointment.

In the end, three teams had tied for first place in the competition. Their towers were so strong that they could not be broken with the 62.5 Kg of weights that were used.

Full-scale projects like this give student a taste for what the design industry is really like. It’s a very involved process, where they would normally have to plan and then build several iterations of a product. Harnessing the competitive nature of the students also pushed them to be highly engaged and cooperative with their teams. The students had a blast with this unit, while gaining important experience with the design cycle!