LEAD students build spaghetti structures

Shades Cahaba students in Jennifer Bauman’s LEAD classes (Learning Enhancement and Academic Design) have been participating in stimulating activities to learn more about engineering and the process of problem solving.

Fourth and fifth graders had 20 minutes to work in groups and build a structure that could hold the mass of a marshmallow using a certain amount of spaghetti noodles, tape and string. After the 20 minutes, the class as a whole talked about how difficult this was and what they could have done differently. Then the students had a second opportunity to build their structures.

Fifth graders then built a 27-inch tall structure that supported the marshmallow.