Duration: 30 minutes
SPIRIT Skills:
- Resilience
- Problem-solving
Brief Description:
Teams build under time and material limits, adapting quickly when pieces break or wobble.
How does this develop particular SPIRIT skills
- Strengthens resilience by working through breakage and time pressure
- Builds problem-solving through real-time troubleshooting and stability decisions
What do we want to achieve regarding SPIRIT skill development (student understanding and/or behaviour)?
As a result of this activity, students will be able to:
- Problem-solving: build a first prototype with a recognizable 4×3 rectangular base and attempt an apex.
- Resilience: respond to a challenge by choosing a next step (rebuild/brace/swap role).
- Valuing people and nature: place broken or unused pieces into a reuse pile, not the trash.
Academic/Curriculum Objective connection
- Apply spatial reasoning and geometric accuracy to a hands-on model
- Use geometric language while building (base/edge/vertex).
Materials and tools needed for implementation
- Team spaghetti + marshmallows
- Timer/stopwatch
- Quick build log (Trial 1).
Preparation notes
- Set clear safety/food rules (marshmallows are connectors, not snacks).
- Set time checkpoint reminders (e.g., “Check base at 5 minutes.”).
Guided Questions
- “Is your base flat and rectangular?”
- “Do your corners feel strong?”
- “What is wobbling — and what can you change?”
- “What is the smallest fix you can try first?”
Stage Debriefing Questions (Optional)
- What worked best in Trial 1? What broke first?”
Tips and Tricks for dealing with stage challenges
- Challenge (resilience): Students get frustrated when it collapses.
- Tip: Use mantra: Break → Breathe → Rebuild and assign a “reset role.”
- Challenge (problem-solving): Teams try many fixes at once.
- Tip: Teacher prompts: “Try one change, then test again.”