Pasta and Marshmallow Towers!

Here's a fun way to learn about a fundamental part of engineering -- compression and tension:

What you need:
30 small marshmallows
20 unbroken, uncooked long pasta
measuring tape
small books (as weights)

The goal is to build the highest and the strongest tower out of the pasta and marshmallows.  There are no step-by-step instructions for this project so feel free to be creative and test out different structures and different shapes

Suggested: Turn this into a friendly competition with your friends.  First see who has the tallest tower and then see who can build the strongest tower (which tower can withstand the most weight--this is where the books come in).  

What you will discover:
Different materials have different properties. You will see that the pasta cannot withstand much tension or compression which means it will break very easily, much more easily than a marshmallow. You will find that marshmallows are rather compressible but quickly break under tension.

Wondering how effective your structure is?
Put your structure on a cooking scale and record the weight.  Now divide the load (the amount of weight your tower can hold) by the total weight of your structure.  The higher the number this calculation gives you, the more effective your structure is.  Try different shapes for the structure and see which shape gives you the most effective structure. Happy building!