Page 354 - Foundations of Learning, 4th Edition (Revised)

PLAN

1. Form teams of six.
2. Carefully read the Information section.

Your team has 30 minutes to complete Steps 3–7 of the Plan.
3. Identify and select a role for each team member that you feel can help the team win the competition.
4. Brainstorm ideas for designing your tower.
5. Decide upon a plan for your tower design.
6. Submit an outline of the team roles and the design plan to your instructor before receiving the materials.
7. Build your prototype according to your plan with each team member functioning in his/her role.
8. When your instructor calls time, move your prototype to the designated location.
9. Use the Critical Thinking Questions as the basis for a two-page report about your team’s performance

during this activity.
10. Calculate your team’s score by using the formula provided in the Information section.

INFORMATION

Your design team is competing for a contract to build transportable radio towers for reporting wildfires in
remote locations. It is imperative that these towers be as tall as possible to assure that no fire reports are
missed. Using a minimum amount of materials to keep both the cost and the weight down is also desirable.
The contract will be awarded based on your ability to build a freestanding prototype on the cardboard base
you are given. The only materials you may use are recycled paper and transparent tape. Your team’s score
will be computed by the formula:

Score  H
(30  N )

where H is the height in centimeters and N is the number of full, non-mutilated sheets of recycled paper
returned at the end of the competition.

348 Foundations of Learning