How do engineers build strong towers?

BIG IDEA

Engineering strong structures.

FOCUS QUESTION

How do engineers build strong towers?

PREDICTION/ HYPOTHESIS

• If it has a strong foundation it will be more stable.
• If the tower is narrower at the top than the bottom it will be more stable.
•  If there are more marshmallows on the bottom it will be strong. 

PLANNING 
Materials
Dry spaghetti
Miniature marshmallows

First we build the base of our tower connecting marshmallows and spaghetti.
Next we added the walls by connecting the spaghetti broken in half to marshmallows.
Then we added supports for the sides of the town with spaghetti and marshmallows to make it stronger. 

DATA

This is our tower. You can see the spaghetti broken in half with lots of marshmallows connecting them. The supports were added because it was leaning. We also added supports on the side walls running diagonally to support the weight of the tower.

CLAIMS AND EVIDENCE

Claim	Evidence
If it has a strong foundation it will be more stable.	This was true, especially when we added the supports on the sides to keep it from leaning.
If the tower is narrower at the top than the bottom it will be more stable.	This was true because when we added another layer on top it became very unstable but when we took it down and added a narrower layer it was stable.
If there are more marshmallows on the bottom it will be strong.	This was true as shown by the broken pieces on the bottom with lots of marshmallows.

CONCLUSION/REFLECTION

Our hypothesis were correct that the stronger the foundation, the more marshmallows and the narrow top would make it more stable. The supports on the side were not thought of at first, but were designed as we noticed the tower leaning. 

QUESTIONS
Are diagonal supports used in building walls in towers?
Are triangles stronger than rectangle walls?
How are foundations made on real towers?