The House the Wolf Couldn't Blow Down

Today, we integrated one of our favorite classic tales, The Three Pigs, with an engineering project. The task was to build a house with a variety of materials that the big bad (hairdryer) wolf couldn't blow down. For 45 minutes, the Bumblebees tried and tested several different materials.

Before building, we talked about how we can make a strong house.  Some of their responses included:

• GG: with cement
• SA: bricks on top, wood on the bottom
• YK: bricks and cement to hold it
• IK: bricks on the very bottom, metal on bottom, wood on top and maybe paint
• RH: woods for floor, bricks and cement for house
• VM: wood on bottom, bricks in the middle and cement on top
• IS: bamboo floor, glass windows, bricks and wood for the rest

 Here is the process in which the students were exploring and testing materials.

Here are some of their discoveries the students were making during this project:

      If I put clay on I can make it strong so it's better. The roof is going to be made out of sticks.

      I'm making this house for the Big Bad Wolf. It's super strong. I'm using blocks and bricks like the 3rd little pig.

     My design is blocks and bricks with clay. The clay is sticking it.

     I'm putting clay around the wood so it won't fall. It's like a belt buckle. It belts it in so it won't fall down.

     I'm connecting cubes with playdough because playdough is the strongest sticky stuff.