Gumdrop Tower Engineering Challenge
Materials you’ll need
- gumdrops
- toothpicks
Rules
- You have 15 minutes to build
- You can only use gumdrops and toothpicks
- Your structure must be at least 6 inches tall
- To test your tower, just add books until it goes SPLAT
Learn more
Our contestants were smart to use triangles in their towers. A square shape squishes easily when squeezed, while a triangle holds up better under pressure. (Grab some toothpicks and gumdrops and try it for yourself!)If you watch closely, you’ll see that the first tower tested had three layers: the bottom layer built with triangles, the middle layer with squares, and the top with triangles. When we started adding books, the top and bottom layers stayed sturdy, while the middle layer’s squares twisted out of shape.
So if you try this at home, peep our tip and don’t forget the triangles!