3rd Quarter

During 3rd quarter, the 8th graders will be designing, drawing, and building a balsa wood tower using only a given amount of materials. They will be graded on work ethic, quality of the drawing, quality of the tower, and the strength of the tower. After the towers have been graded, we test the towers in the Webb Middle School fitness center by placing weights on the towers until the towers fail. After testing, we are able to calculate the strength to weight ratio of the tower.

The students will also complete a problem solving unit where the students will design and construct a catapult that will be tested for distance and accuracy using only materials given to them in class.

Other labs that could be completed during 3rd quarter are screen printing and/or 3D modeling using various software programs available on the internet. After a student has designed a 3D object, he/she will be able to "print" the object on our 3D printer. These are extra credit and would only be offered to those students that are ahead on their tower project or finish the project early.