The Marshmallow Challenge

The Marshmallow Challenge!

Directions: The challenge is simple. Your team will have 18 minutes to create the tallest free-standing structure possible that will hold a marshmallow on the top. (This means the structure must stand on its own! It cannot lean on another object or be held up by a person!)

Teams holding the structure will be disqualified. Remember the marshmallow must rest at the TOP of the structure!

Use the following materials to build your structure. Use as much or as little of the materials as your team decides. Your team may break up the spaghetti, string or tape to create the structure. Good luck!

Materials: 20 sticks of spaghetti 1 yard of masking tape 1 yard of string 1 marshmallow 1 plastic tray 1 pair of scissors Notes: The Marshmallow Challenge is a great activity to do with students as a way to introduce the design process because it provides many discussion points about engineering and design challenges. When discussing the challenge with students you can effectively talk about the iterative process and its importance to design and engineering. For example you can touch on the importance of planning, prototyping and analyzing solutions and how it is important to repeat these steps when developing a final product. The activity is also a great team builder and helps students to learn to work together in coming up with solutions to design problems. I have used this activity the past two years as an introduction to my Engineering and Design Unit that I do with my 8th grade physical science students at the end of the school year after state testing has finished. Once students have experienced the Marshmallow Challenge, they apply what they have learned in other design and engineering challenges like an Egg Drop or Bridge Building.