Weston Middle School

Technology/Engineering Course Materials

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Summary

Technology means in Greek "the knowledge or art of how to make things"

Technological items, whether souffles or i-phones, are things that require technology-knowledge of techniques- to make them.

Today we will introduce two technologies into the tower-building challenge:

1. Stiff paper columns or beams:

The stiffness of a paper beam can be significantly increased by rolling the paper tightly, so that the strength of each thickness of paper contributes uniformly to the whole.

Rolling paper tightly is greatly eased by use of a jig- a specialized shop-made tool. In this instance, we will use a 1/4" diameter wooden dowel as a jig.

The Phalanx formation: