Project Introduction

Our task was to make a sturdy spaghetti and blue tack building to survive a pretend earthquake. We researched what makes buildings strong during earthquakes and combined designs to make our own. Using what we learned, we created our building. We experimented with various ways to stabilise it and tested different supports to see what worked best. We had a $60 budget, where each gram of blue tack and each piece of spaghetti cost $1. So, we had to be wise with our resources to build the best and strongest structure possible.

Engineering Process

The engineering process for our spaghetti tower involved defining the challenge, researching structural stability, designing, constructing prototypes, testing, and refining based on results. We started by understanding what makes buildings stable, incorporated various design elements like bracing and reinforcements, built the tower, tested its stability, and made adjustments to improve its performance.

To enhance outcomes in future projects:

1. More profound Research: Invest more time in understanding the science behind structural stability using unconventional materials like spaghetti. 
2. Iterative Testing: The tower should be tested under different conditions, like varying loads or simulated earthquakes. Iterating based on these diverse tests would yield more robust designs.
3. Collaborative Design: Involve the entire team in the design process to incorporate diverse ideas and perspectives. Each member could contribute unique solutions that strengthen the overall design.
4. Resource Management: We will strategically allocate resources, considering the most impactful materials for stability rather than uniform distribution, maximizing the effectiveness of our budget.

By implementing these changes, we can enhance our understanding of structural mechanics, promote diverse problem-solving approaches, and optimize resource usage for more resilient and innovative spaghetti tower designs in the future.

Group Collaboration

Each group member contributed uniquely to our spaghetti tower challenge. Claire focused on researching earthquake-resistant designs, bringing valuable knowledge about structural stability. Sienna excelled in prototype construction, demonstrating precision and attention to detail in building our models. I took charge of testing and evaluation, meticulously analyzing our tower’s performance. Claire managed the budget effectively, optimizing resource allocation. Claire’s research, Sienna and Is craftsmanship, and Claire’s budget management fortified our approach. Their research, construction, and budgeting strengths bolstered our problem-solving capacity, ensuring a well-rounded solution to our engineering challenge.