Irvington Sixth-Graders Take On Marshmallow Challenge

IRVINGTON, N.Y. -- A science lesson in Philip Levine and Amy Panitz’s sixth-grade classes at Irvington Middle School was food for thought when students took on the Marshmallow Challenge.

Irvington Middle School science teacher Philip Levine measures the students’ marshmallow structures.
Photo Credit: *Contributed*

Irvington Middle School sixth-graders worked in groups to construct the tallest freestanding structure that could support a marshmallow on top.
Photo Credit: *Contributed*

Ken Davis

12/15/2015 10:00 a.m.

The sixth-graders worked in groups to construct the tallest freestanding structure that could support a marshmallow on top. Each team was given 20 pieces of uncooked spaghetti, 100 centimeters of masking tape, 100 centimeters of twine, one marshmallow and 18 minutes to complete the assignment.

Part of the challenge was to move each structure from the lab table to a central location, and to have it support the marshmallow for at least 24 hours.

“Having viewed the structures and discussing the pros and cons of their work, the students will revisit the challenge with the goal of incorporating their prior knowledge and engineering skills to build an even better structure,” Levine said.

This is the third annual Great Marshmallow Engineering Challenge, through which students work on their team-building, collaboration and communication skills.

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