The London Section has used the Tall Tower Challenge activity in high schools and elementary to demonstrate the Engineering Design process during the period when we are restricted to virtual visits due to Covid-19 protocols in the local schools.  A typical presentation talks about engineering as a career then introduces the activity (taken from TryEngineering https://tryengineering.org/?s=tall+tower+challenge&sf=8816).  Materials (25 paper straws, masking tape, and a golf ball per group) are sent to the school in advance.  The teacher sets up a virtual meeting using their choice of platform (Google Meets or Microsoft TEAMS in this case) and shows on their SmartBoard or a projected screen.  Our volunteer joins at the scheduled time, makes the presentation, and then leads the activity including a post-build discussion of lessons learned about the tower and the process.  The classroom management and student support is provided by the teacher so this is more demanding for them than an in-person visit. Attached are photos from two recent events at Parkside Collegiate (Gr 9-11 Enrichment) in St. Thomas, ON and St. Jude Elementary (Gr2/3) in London, ON.

Contact Murray MacDonald (murraymacdonald@ieee.org) with questions.