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materials children have been using to build towers during the week
- materials
- strong
MA Standards:
English Language Arts/Speaking and Listening/SL.PK.MA.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners during daily routines and play.
MA Draft Standards:
Physical Sciences/Matter and Its Interactions: Structure and Properties of Matter/PS1.A Describe, compare, sort and classify objects based on observable physical characteristics, uses, and whether it is manufactured as part of their classroom play and investigations of the natural and human-made world.
Physical Sciences/Motion and Stability; Forces and Interaction /PS2.C Explore the strength and stability of buildings as they build structures with different materials. [Cause and Effect, Stability and Change]
Head Start Outcomes:
Logic and Reasoning/Reasoning and Problem Solving Seeks multiple solutions to a question, task, or problem.
Logic and Reasoning/ Reasoning and Problem Solving Uses past knowledge to build new knowledge.
PreK Learning Guidelines:
English Language Arts/Language 2 Participate actively in discussions, listen to the ideas of others, and ask and answer relevant questions.
Science and Technology/Inquiry Skills 4 Record observations and share ideas through simple forms of representation such as drawings.
Explore Together (indoors): Free Building
© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care (Jennifer Waddell photographer). All rights reserved.
STEM Key Concepts: How you design and build a structure helps determine how strong it will be; Different materials are useful for making different structures and different parts of structures
ELA Focus Skills: Listening and Speaking, Vocabulary
Have children continue building towers. Encourage them to explore using the materials in new ways, testing ways to make the structures higher and stronger. Refer to children’s responses you recorded on chart paper during the Talk Together activity for the day to help them carry out their ideas and solve problems. Guide them to come up with building solutions. For example, ask, What would happen if you used the cups upside down? (creates a sturdier base) Why do they think that helps make their tower strong?
Have children test the stability of structures by placing different numbers and types of objects on them. Invite children to measure, or record, the results (e.g., how many floors the structure had before it toppled over). Finally, ask children to document their work by drawing their towers.
Reflect and Share
Bring children together around their towers. Ask questions to help them reflect on their building experiences. For example, ask,
- What did you observe about which materials were the best to use for building your tower?
- What were the ways you made your tower strong? How were the ways you used to make your tower strong different or the same when you used different materials? Why do you think that was?
Have children discuss their stability results with each other. Ask them to compare and think about why some buildings were able to withstand more objects than others. Help children record on their drawings any new ideas they have for the next time they build towers.