Trillium Learning Global 21st Century Schools Project
Invengineering 2011
Teacher: Meryl Wolf
Roberge Elementary School
Woodside Elementary School
River Vale, New Jersey, USA
Fifth Grade SAGE Students:
Holly, Christine, Lauren, Nicole, Matthew, Tyler,
Justin, Rima, Seana, Cole, Emma, Jesse, Rachel, Justin,
Chelsea, Jack
“Design Technology is a blend of science and
invention; it allows children to be involved in
problem solving in the real world. It gives them
the capability and the confidence to design,
construct, and evaluate working models.
Barbara
SAGE
SAGE stands for Supplemental And Gifted
Education. Participants in the fifth grade
S.A.G.E. program spent the first several months
of this year on an Invengineering challenge so
named because the students are expected to be
inventive and creative in their approach to tower
design. Although, they have specifications to
which they must adhere, they are asked to
develop a tower that is aesthetically appealing
and attractive as well as sturdy.
Project Overview
Each team in the Northern Valley Invengineering Expo
Challenge must design and construct a model tower to
be destructively tested to determine the design
efficiency of the tower. The process is documented in
a log book and/or photo journal. In addition, there
must be an exhibit for your work, and a 90 second oral
presentation.
Project Requirements
Before we began building our tower, we had to read the
rules in The Student Guide To Tower Building. We were
given twelve 24” strips of 1/8 square balsa wood, green
colored wood glue, and graph paper for diagrams of the
top and side views. We also used foam core board and
wax paper when we were cutting. We organized all of
our equipment and decided how we would proceed.
In preparation, we read about towers, and learned
about how to make them strong. We went on the PBS
building BIG site,
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/buildingbig/ where we
learned about compression, tension, force, shapes,
loads, and skyscrapers by using an interactive lab.
The Tower
The tower had to meet the following specifications in
order to be eligible to compete:
 Four sides, with the top view being a square
 Width of each side between 2 ¾” and 3”
 Height between 8” and 9”
 The design must allow a ½” rod to pass through the
center from top to bottom.
Design
We planned a design as a group. We all thought about
it and then decided that our design should be made up
of triangles. We chose triangles because they are the
strongest shape. This was important since our towers
needed to be strong because they would be
destructively tested later on. Next, members of the
teams started drawing the design on graph paper to
scale.
Building Process
We used a variety of tools when we made our tower.
We had several cutting tools. Two of them were thin
or thick handles with blades (Exacto Knives) and two
were angle cutters (Timber Cutters) that showed
which angle to cut on. We used the angle cutter the
most because we really needed to get the exact angle
or the pieces of the wall wouldn’t fit together.
After designing the tower, the building began! We
started building the frame of the walls for the tower.
With the frame in place, we carefully used a pencil to
mark the place where to cut the wood for the
horizontal bars.
When we had all of our pieces cut out we placed and
fitted them together and pinned them down onto a
piece of wax paper. After that, we used green wood
glue to glue the balsa wood pieces in place. Once they
were dried and became a wall, we glued the walls
together as a tower.
Putting it together was a team effort
The Process of Invengineering
While some of us built the tower, another person
worked on the logbook, which is a record of what we
did each day. Other people worked on the skit/
presentation which could only be 90 seconds long.
Towards the end, one or two people worked on the
presentation board. The whole experience got everyone
involved and excited.
Presentation Board
Sample Log Book Page
The electronic log book
documented our daily
progress.
The Expo
At the multi-town expo we presented our towers and then
tested them. The testing process started with them making
sure the height and width met the requirement. Then they
used a machine to put pressure on the tower. Whichever
tower was the most efficient was the the winner.
Efficiency = Force or Load (Applied force on tester)
Weight or Mass (weight on scale)
Weigh In
Competing Towers-Day 1
There were a total of 18 teams over a two day period.
These are towers from day 1.
These are our towers.
Presentations
It was fun to watch all the unique and creative
presentations by the different teams. After all our hard
work writing our scripts, practicing them, and timing
them to make sure they were not over 90 seconds, it
was time to present in front of all the other students.
90 second presentation- Roberge Team
We came up with a skit where three of us were good
elves, three of use were evil elves and there was a
narrator. The evil elves had to be stopped from
destroying towers.
90 second presentation- Woodside Team #1
Our theme was party animals and our team was the
Boreseals. We got that name by combining our favorite
animals: the beaver, the gorilla, and the weasel.
90 second presentation- Woodside Team #2
This presentation was a TV news show with two of
us interviewing the other two who were the building
designers.
Based upon the tower’s efficiency they were
categorized into three groups. The groups in order
from lowest to highest were bronze, silver, and gold.
All of the Woodside S.A.G.E. 5th grade students
placed in the silver category while the Roberge 5th
grade S.A.G.E. students placed in the gold group.
Everyone received a certificate in recognition of their
achievement.
Testing the tower’s efficiency
Our presentation boards
Roberge students used Adobe
Photoshop
Structural Analysis Predictions
After viewing all the structures and listening to the
presentations we completed an analysis sheet predicting
into what category our tower would fall, which design
was our favorite and why, and what similarities and
differences we noticed among all the towers.
Student Reflections



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After participating in the Invengineering Expo
Challenge students completed evaluation forms. Here
are some of their comments:
I learned that being put into a group you have to really
compromise with your team and make the most out of
the supplies you have. (Emma)
I noticed that cooperation and teamwork really count.
(Christine)
I learned that triangles are the strongest shapes. (Tyler)
I learned that it was a lot harder than I thought. (Cole)
You have to learn to work with your team because
everyone has different ideas. (Lauren)
 It takes hard work and lots of time to build a tower.
Sometimes less weight is better. (Jack)
 I observed that everyone’s towers and presentations
were different in a good way. (Chelsea)
Responding to a question about their preparation:
 We had problems here and there but we solved all of it
together. (Jesse)
 Preparing was fun because we learned all about towers
and learned great facts that no one knew before.
(Rachel)
 It was fun building and preparing as a team. (Justin)

Commenting about sportsmanship and peer support:
 Everybody was a good sport. (Matt)
 Everyone worked together well and no one was fighting.
(Nicole)
Responding to a question about how the individual was important
to the team:
 I came up with the tower design and the script. (Holly)
 I helped by always sharing my opinions in group discussions, the
presentation board, the log book and deciding on photos. (Rima)
Commenting about the presentations:
 Some people were quiet and nervous but everyone did a good
job. (Seana)
 I felt a lot of pressure watching the towers being tested. (Justin)
The View After the Expo
A Woodside student said: After the expo, we
realized that we could have improved our
towers to get into the gold category. For one
thing, we could have made the tower more
level so it could hold an even balance of
weight on all sides and not crumble on one
side.
Newspaper coverage:
Page 1
Students wrote stories about their experience which were published in
the newspaper along with photos
Bottom of page 1 of the article
Page 2
Bottom of page 1 of the article
It seemed like everyone liked the multi-town expo. We all
met someone new and made a few more friends. Overall,
this was an experience everyone enjoyed. Each tower was
different, but all used triangles to make them strong. The
towers were tested and eventually destroyed; watching each
tower and waiting for them to collapse was exciting . The
different groups all did a 90 second presentation, which
fortunately, turned out great! This experience was enjoyable
for all, and an awesome learning experience.