Week 2- Constructing Environments Journal entry This week were assigned the task to build the tallest tower possible out of 40 thin balsa wood strips that were cut up throughout the week. As a group we discussed various methods that would allow us to get as high as possible. We decided to go with a triangular structure as we did last week. Using the glue proved to be a very timely task and resulted quite a lot of mess and and broken balsa sticks, it took quite a while to get the sticks to stay together.
In order to ensure our structure would be stable and not collase during construction we chose to build it on the ground before standing it up. This method took a while and looked as though we were getting little done in the time we were given. Despite this it proved to be quite a valuble method as it allowed us to control the breaks and snaps in the wood without having the tower collapse.
When it came to standng the tower up it was quite obvious that it wasnt as structurally sound as we had hoped. the was quite a lot of leaning and balancing going on, however the tower did manage to stand on its own and touched the roof. Although it didnt win the tallest tower it did come a close second, it was interesting to see the different methods of construction chosen by each of the groups in order to get the tower as high as possible.
OTHER METHODS It appeared as that most of the groups chose to use some type of triangular base or suructure in order to reach maximum hight and structural stability. This group chose to use a pyramid like structure as we did, hwever they went with a much wider base and there fore didnt quite reach the hight they would have liked. In terms of strucural stength it was far more supportive then ours due to the wider base.
The group to the left used a less conservative method and constructed their tower out of smaller segments. They had the smallest of the four tower however they had the most supportive and sound structural system and were probably the only group who created a tower that could actually support its own weight.
Again this group, just like last week managed to create the tallest tower out of the four. Their structure was extrememly thin yet with a bit of balancing it managed to stand upright touching the roof. Although their method also incorporated triangles they used quite a few more supportive beams meaning their frame structure had more support then say our tower.