Engineer the strongest structure possible
The Challenge: Oil and gas drilling requires incredibly strong materials that can withstand extreme pressure. Your challenge is to build the strongest possible tower using only 100 toothpicks and one bottle of white glue. Your tower must be at least 12 inches tall and able to support the weight of a textbook placed on top for at least 30 seconds. Test different structural designs—triangles, squares, cross-bracing—and document which geometry makes the strongest structure. Time yourself during construction to see if you can improve efficiency on a second attempt!
What You'll Learn: Structural engineering principles, material strength, geometric stability, and iterative design thinking.
