March 31, 2010

Spaghetti and Marshmallow Challenge

Pasta and marshmallows are not the sort of materials that immediately spring to mind when asked to build the tallest tower you can. Undeterred by that, the budding engineers of Hallfield School rose to the challenge with the sort of enthusiasm that would have warmed the heart of Monsieur Eiffel. As part of the Science week, pupils were asked to construct a tower  from a maximum of 20 pieces of spaghetti (uncooked!) and 5 marshmallows (pink or white!), it had to be free standing and self supporting – well long enough to be measured by the teachers. Shredded marshmallows reduce down to a sticky, gluey mess and children were rapidly becoming an integral part of their tower as they became welded to the strands of pasta!   Shrieks and laughter ensued as the clock ticked away the 20 minutes allocated for the task. And the overall winners? Hannah Nolan and Marianne Fitzgibbon.  Well done girls !