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Build a Newspaper Tower
Architecture, just like the ‘Engineering’ part of STEAM learning, is all about making and building things that look good and are properly supported to fit into the space available. This activity can be scaled to smaller or larger building projects, and can be as complicated or as simple as you wish!
Materials:
- Paper
- Pencil
- Lots of newspapers
- Ruler or measuring tape
- Masking tape, clear tape or a stapler
Instructions:
- Sketch a basic design. How tall do you want it to be? How wide? Are there shapes you can build which can be used for building?
- Decide how many different lengths of tubes will be needed. You can make long tubes then cut them in half for shorter tubes.
- Roll several full-size sheets of newspaper lengthwise into tubes – be sure to roll them into tubes of the same size diameter, and tape them tightly.
- You can use several tubes to build a cube, which can be the structure’s base. You may also fold the longer tubes to create corners.
- Build the tower upward by adding more tubes. How high can you build?
- Explore more Story Hackers episodes and activities.