National Engineers Month

	Activities by Grade	K - 2		5 - 8
		3 - 4		9 - 12

Balloon Castles

Build the tallest free-standing, self-supporting balloon structure possible in 20 minutes.

What you need:

• Two rolls of transparent tape
• 100 balloons for each team of 5-12 people

Directions:

1. Build the tallest free-standing, self-supporting balloon structure possible in 20 minutes.

Observations:

It is really interesting to watch teams plan and do this activity.  The vision of the finished product is often much different from the actual.  many teams jump right in to the solutions and waste time later trying to define the structure and how to organize it.  some of the most effective teams take designated time up front to decide a plan, make role assignments, and come up with ore or two contingencies before they get busy.  Too often teams set lofty goals and forget that a solid foundation is required or the whole thing will tumble to the floor.

Discoveries about balloons and transparent tape are fun to watch.  One common strategy is to blow the balloons to full capacity since each one is taller that way...until they break!  another common design strategy is to build layers that will fit like a puzzle upon the lower layers...too bad the balloons are not a uniform size and shape when they are inflated.  The tape causes its own problems since transparent tape can form sharp points that only burst the most critical balloons.  The tape can also make one heck of a mess if the participants are not careful where it sticks.

Regardless of what it looks like, every team enjoys a team photo next to their work.