A student intently focuses on stacking her bricks as she leads her team to a second place finish in the overall competition standings.
Physics students at Westerville Central High School recently participated in the annual “Bargain Brick Build.” During this activity they are challenged to build a tower out of an unlimited supply of note cards, paperclips, pieces of tape, and staples that can hold as many bricks as possible. The winners are determined by the team that can hold the most weight in bricks while using the least amount of materials possible. This exercise is designed to introduce some key aspects of the process of engineering and technology and how it is tied directly to economic boundaries.
This year’s record breaking tower built by Emily Osborne, Josh Shaw, Chris Ogle, and Josh Ekyere, was able to hold 85.4 pounds of brick on 6 inch tall platform made out 26 cylindrically rolled 3”x5” note cards. The power of the pillar was on display.