Swalwell Primary School
Working together, learning together
Welcome
Y3/4 become architects for the day!
As part of our DT unit on Pavilions, we experimented with building our own structures using marshmallows and cocktail sticks. Our aim was to build the tallest structure possible. Very quickly, we recognised that our 'towers' wobbled and fell by the time we got to the second floor.
We discussed reinforcing the base to make it stronger as this was the part that was unsteady and wobbling. We found two different ways of doing this: using cocktail sticks across the diagonal; and making the base wider.
Our final experiment was looking at shapes other than squares and triangles that could be useful and unusual to build a pavilion. Pentagons, hexagons and octagons proved to be very stable and looked more appealing.
Definitely, a class of future architects and designers.