Tower Building Activity ECS Days 13-14

The Problem Solving Process Understand the Problem Plan the solution Carry out the Plan Review and discuss your solution

Assignment You will need to find a solution to the following problem.

Tower Building Activity Donald Trump wants to build a 100 meter high tower as quickly as possible. He has unlimited resources and an unlimited budget and is willing to spend any amount to get the job done. He has chosen to build the tower with blocks that are 100 meters long and 100 meters wide, but only 1 meter tall. The blocks interlock on top and bottom (like Legos). They cannot be stacked sideways. Using special lifters, putting one stack on top of another stack takes one week regardless of how high the stacks are. Journal #12.2: What is the shortest amount of time that it will take to build the tower? Think this through and come up with a quick answer in one or two minutes and come up with your best guess.

Tower Building Activity Now, in a group of 2-4 students, get a set of 10 Legos from your teacher. Break the larger problem up and start first with a 10 meter high tower. Figure out as a group how many weeks it will take to build a 10 meter tower with the blocks you have been given. Prepare to share your answer with the class if called upon. The original problem is below: Donald Trump wants to build a 100 meter high tower as quickly as possible. He has unlimited resources and an unlimited budget and is willing to spend any amount to get the job done. He has chosen to build the tower with blocks that are 100 meters long and 100 meters wide, but only 1 meter tall. The blocks interlock on top and bottom (like Legos). They cannot be stacked sideways. Using special lifters, putting one stack on top of another stack takes one week regardless of how high the stacks are.

Example – 10 Meter Tower IF we took a single row of five blocks and placed it on a a stack of five.

Week 1

Week 2

Week 2

Week 2

Week 2

Week 3

Week 3

Week 3

Week 3

Week 4

Week 4

Week 4

Sample Solutions

100 meter Tower How many weeks?

Week # # of Stacks # of Blocks in Stack Remainder 1 50 2 25 4 3 12 8 1 stack of 4 6 16 5 32 64 1 stack of 36 7 100

Created and compiled by Jeff Hinton 2014 Modified by Mike Wood - 2014