Engineering

Supplies needed: Play-Doh, Drinking Straws, Small disposible cups, hand-full of pennies

We instructed the girls to use the play-doh and straws to construct a support for a cup. The cup was not to touch the table and the girls could come up with any way they thought they might be able to keep the cup from falling or touching the table. After they finished their construction, we then counted the amount of pennies it would take to make their construction fall down.
Some of the creations barely held 2 or 3 pennies, but there were one or two that we were hard pressed to make it fall down. There was even one that was so stable that we filled the cup to the very top and it still stayed up!
We then asked the girls about how they would change their construction to make it more sturdy and able to withstand the weight of the pennies. It was a great learning experience for everyone!