Building a tower is a great way to explore strong shapes. People that design tall buildings are called architects. They make plans, build a model, and test it. You can be architect too!
This video shows why triangles are a good shape to use when building a tall tower.
Our tower kits have 20 straws and a fresh roll of tape. Our resident tower architect, Julia, describes how she used the kit:
The scotch tape binds the straws together. It takes some practice, and it gets easier the more you do it.
My advice: think about the number of straws you have while planning your design. You can even draw your plan before you begin!
Something that worked well in the design was constructing triangle formations for stability. Triangles prevent the tower from twisting. I even put triangles in the base of the tower! I planned my tower with triangles before starting. Even with my well-drawn plan, I had to improve (make it up as I went along) during construction.
I started with a basic plan of what I wanted to do. Then, I would see the way the tower started leaning. I would use this data to add more support, and adjust as I went along!
When I did not have a plan, I needed a couple straws at the end but did not have any. So, I removed straws from one part of my tower. It worked ok, but I would have been happier with the tower if I drew a plan ahead of time.
Another thing to keep in mind: be extra careful around the corners when taping together straws. The flat tape and round straws don’t naturally get along! It can be unsatisfying how its impossible to have the corners of two straws meet perfectly. The tape prefers a flat, straight surface, but eventually works with the round straws.
My building challenges were always with the joints. When the joints were wobbly, the tower tried to fall over. Taking it slow and placing the tape carefully will help.
You can always take the tower apart and start again. Keep trying drawing, building and testing new designs!
– Julia, Resident Tower Architect
This video from PBS explains how towers are built.
We use straws and tape to build our towers, but you can also use cups. This video explains some of the problems and solutions when building with cups.
Challenges from our Bridge and Tower learning adventure:
- Challenge 14: Build the tallest tower possible with 20 straws and tape.
- Challenge 15: Build one tower for a bridge.
- Challenge 19: Building a tall bridge (requires two towers)
- Challenge 21: Building a long bridge