Consistent lego tower design

[JW11777]

My second grader is doing the building the tallest tower project. He is going to use the same footprint for the base of each tower. But he is wondering if he has to use the same size and layout of lego bricks on each layer of the various towers, too? In other words, does each layer of lego bricks have to use the exact same pattern, with the exact same type of bricks, in each of the towers?

[dcnick96]

Hello. I think it would be a more interesting experiment if your second grader varies the design beyond the common base. If each building is the same, he / she won't be able to examine how different engineering designs will withstand lateral movement. I recommend the student research what engineers have to think about when designing a building in an earthquake prone area. Is it simply a matter of height (shorter buildings are stronger), or how can an engineer design a larger tower to withstand the lateral movement? Have your student build 3-5 different structures (or more if he / she likes!) based on different design concepts and see if one design withstands the movement better than the others and try to determine what about that design made it stronger.

I hope this helps. Certainly write back if you have further questions.

Good luck!

[JW11777]

Thank you! We were focusing so much on just changing the height and keeping everything else the same that we didn't think about our variable being the change in design. I appreciate the help.

[dcnick96]

You're welcome! Good luck, and let us know how it goes.