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    Building For Hurricanes: Engineering Design Challenge

    Uploaded by

    Daniella Sirjoo
    This document provides instructions for an engineering design challenge to build a freestanding tower that can support a tennis ball as high as possible while withstanding simulated hurricane winds from a fan. Students are given various materials to construct their tower such as index cards, straws, and tape. They are asked to brainstorm designs and consider forces of wind and gravity. Example tower structures are shown for inspiration. Students then build and test their designs, revising as needed based on how they hold up to the fan's wind test. The goal is to design a tower that keeps the tennis ball aloft during testing.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Building For Hurricanes: Engineering Design Challenge

    Uploaded by

    Daniella Sirjoo
    61 views17 pages
    This document provides instructions for an engineering design challenge to build a freestanding tower that can support a tennis ball as high as possible while withstanding simulated hurricane winds from a fan. Students are given various materials to construct their tower such as index cards, straws, and tape. They are asked to brainstorm designs and consider forces of wind and gravity. Example tower structures are shown for inspiration. Students then build and test their designs, revising as needed based on how they hold up to the fan's wind test. The goal is to design a tower that keeps the tennis ball aloft during testing.

    Original Title

    Hurricane-Tower-PP_0

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    This document provides instructions for an engineering design challenge to build a freestanding tower that can support a tennis ball as high as possible while withstanding simulated hurricane winds from a fan. Students are given various materials to construct their tower such as index cards, straws, and tape. They are asked to brainstorm designs and consider forces of wind and gravity. Example tower structures are shown for inspiration. Students then build and test their designs, revising as needed based on how they hold up to the fan's wind test. The goal is to design a tower that keeps the tennis ball aloft during testing.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    61 views17 pages

    Building For Hurricanes: Engineering Design Challenge

    Uploaded by

    Daniella Sirjoo
    This document provides instructions for an engineering design challenge to build a freestanding tower that can support a tennis ball as high as possible while withstanding simulated hurricane winds from a fan. Students are given various materials to construct their tower such as index cards, straws, and tape. They are asked to brainstorm designs and consider forces of wind and gravity. Example tower structures are shown for inspiration. Students then build and test their designs, revising as needed based on how they hold up to the fan's wind test. The goal is to design a tower that keeps the tennis ball aloft during testing.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    of 17

    Building for Hurricanes:

    Engineering Design Challenge

    Global Precipitation
    Measurement
    Mission

    Developed by the GPM


    Education Team

    NASA Goddard Space


    Flight Center
    Overview
    Whether you live in an area prone to hurricanes or not, you’ve
    seen images of the destruction caused by such storms.

    In the top image, taken in 1998,


    notice the pier, pier house, and
    the antebellum house. The
    bottom image shows the same
    location on August 31, 2005,
    two days after Hurricane
    Katrina made landfall. This
    photo shows the complete
    destruction of these landmarks.

    (Image and text from


    http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/hurricanes/katrina/photo-compariso
    ns/mainmississippi.html
    )
    Satellite Data
    Data from satellites like the Tropical Rainfall Measuring
    Mission and soon the Global Precipitation Measurement
    mission have vastly improved our ability to forecast the track
    of storms and has led to insights that allow us to know when
    a storm will intensify.
    Hurricane Bonnie, August
    1998: 5-Day Forecasts
    vs. Actual Storm Track.

    Improved forecasts can save


    money ($600K to $1M per
    mile of coast evacuated) and
    lives by more precisely
    predicting where the
    hurricane eye will be located
    at landfall. Source. Dr. A.
    Hou, NASA DAO
    Hurricane Damage
    Builders in areas at risk for hurricanes need to plan for that in their
    designs. That is the role you will take on today—designing a building
    that can withstand a (simulated) hurricane. Damage to buildings can
    come because of wind, storm surge, or heavy rainfall leading to
    flooding. For today’s activity, we will focus primarily on wind
    damage, although you may choose to think about the others as well.

    Damage caused by Hurricane Katrina


    Images from: http://sos.noaa.gov/Education/forecast.html
    Instructions and Materials

    Your challenge is to build a freestanding tower that can


    support a tennis ball as high as possible off the ground
    (measured from the bottom of the tennis ball) while
    withstanding the wind from a fan. (Optional extra tough
    challenge: add a spray bottle to represent rain!)
    Materials available to build Materials to help you plan and
    your tower: build, but not part of the final
    • Index cards tower:
    • Straws •Paper and pencil for
    • Craft sticks brainstorming
    • Chenille stems •Scissors
    • Tape •Ruler
    • String
    Remember, the tower needs to be freestanding –
    that means you can’t tape the tower to the table!
    Generate Ideas
    Before you begin designing, think about answers to the
    following questions. Use the paper given for brainstorming
    to record your ideas.
    •Which combination of materials will make the tower as tall as
    possible (measured to the bottom of the tennis ball)?
    •What tower shapes could you use? Should your base be round?
    Square? Triangular?
    •Can you be creative about using the materials in an unexpected
    way?
    •How can you get the tower to be freestanding, not taped to the
    table, and yet not fall over?
    •Think about the forces on the tower, wind from the side and
    gravity pulling down. How you will build your tower to resist
    them?
    Develop and Test Solutions

    Look at the towers on the following slides to give you


    ideas about structures and shapes you might use when
    designing your tower.

    Once you’ve decided on your design, work as a team to


    build your tower! When everyone is finished, we’ll
    share your designs and put them to the test with the
    fan. If you have time, try to redesign your tower with
    what you’ve learned from testing. For example, if the
    tower tips over, the tennis ball won’t stay in place, or
    the weight of the tennis ball collapses the tower.
    The Eiffel Tower, France and the CN Tower, Canada
    Azadi Tower, Iran
    Water Towers: Carmel, Indiana and Chrisman, Illinois
    El Faro Towers, Buenos Aires, Argentina
    Tower of the Great Mosque of Kairouan, Tunisia
    Guy’s Tower, Warwick Castle, Warwick, UK
    30 St Mary Axe (“The Gherkin”), London, UK
    Teepee
    Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris France

    For an aerial view, click here.


    Additional Resources

    • Skyscraper basics and the Skyscraper Challenge


    (from PBS)
    • Information about building structures:
    – Frames
    – Sections and beams
    – Struts and ties

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