Maryland Creative Problem Solvers Instant Challenge Library

Avalanche!!

This is a hands-on challenge.

The Challenge:

You must create a structure that is as tall as you can make it that will withstand the impact of 5 different balls against it.

The Scene:

You live in deep valley, very remote from civilization. Your only hope for communication is to build a very tall communication tower in the "notch" between mountains. Unfortunately, this area has frequent avalanches that your tower must withstand.

Materials:

10 spaghetti

1 1" cube of clay

6 straws

2 rubber bands

2 sheets notebook paper

1 12" piece of string

5 paper clips

3 cotton balls

1 12" piece of wax paper

1 sheets construction paper (8.5 x 11)

5 index cards

1 paper cup

1 paper plate

8 mailing labels

1 12" piece of aluminum foil

Directions:

You will have 9 minutes to construct your tower within the taped area. At 5 different times during construction, a ball will be rolled at your structure by a judge. You may pick the order in which you want the balls rolled except that the billiard ball must be rolled last. After the ball hits the structure, you may reconstruct it, as long as time remains in the challenge. The balls to be rolled are a tennis ball, a baseball, a softball, a billiard ball and a soccer ball.

The first ball will be rolled when 7 minutes remain, the second when 5 minutes remain, the third when 3 minutes remain, the fourth when 1 minute remains and the fifth after time runs out. You must tell the judge which ball will be rolled when it is time to roll the ball and each ball can only be rolled once.

Scoring:

5 points for each inch high that remains after the last ball is rolled at end of challenge
20 points teamwork
20 points creativity of use of materials
2 points for each type of material used

Set up:

Make an 18" tape square on the floor. Place a taped line 12" from the front edge of the square. The entire ramp must be placed behind the line. The ramp must be made of a piece of 2 x 4, about 6" high and an 8" piece of cove molding wide enough to hold a tennis ball. The balls will be gently placed on the ramp and released.