Architecture for Homeschoolers

Hi all,

I am studying my first Architecture subject this study period.  It has been interesting. 

For our first assessment we had to work collaboratively with people to create a poster about a structure by an award winning architect.  That wasn't simple when 2 of our group were in Western Australia with busy lives and 2 of us are mums on the east coast.  But we did it, and the poster submission went well.  We got 8/10.

I have just completed my second assessment and this is where architecture for homeschoolers comes in.  We had to build a structure that could hold 1kg for 2 minutes using either paper (no staples, glue or sticky tape,etc), spaghetti/fettucine with plasticine/blutac joints or sugar cubes with no joining material.

Here are a few of our attempts.

Hubby's pyramid held 1kg easily.  Failed at one of the side joints at about 1.5kg.

DS2's held over 2kg. :-)

Three arches did well and held weight until one twisted to the side.

A very wobbly paper attempt that failed after a little while where the holes "overlap".

And this one is my last attempt.  I can tell you there were some much prettier ones but after the few days I had had just before this was due this was as good as it was going to get.

So there you go!  Test out your kids and see what budding little engineers and architects you can uncover.

Best wishes
Jen