| What does a geodesic dome made of newspapers, a toilet paper column
reinforced with salt, and paper bridges all have in common? They're all part of the Building Big BUILD-A-THON! Thursday, September 28,2000 9am - 4pm SD Discovery Center and Aquarium What is a Build-a-thon?It's a special event that gives students, teachers, and families an opportunity to explore the inner workings of big structures and the challenges of building them. During the Build-a-thon, student groups will be guided through a variety of hands-on activities and demonstrations. The tentative schedule for each group is: 1. Whole group icebreaker activity and short introduction to the Build-a-thon 2. Small group visits to the activity stations 3. Whole group "construction" activity 4. "Ask An Engineer" - question and answer period 5. Visits to activity stations as group time permits (Approximate time for a group to complete the entire Build-a-thon "experience" is one hour.) Activity stations will include:
While at the Build-a-thon, student groups will help build a large structure. Photographs of the completed structure will be sent to each participating school and the structure will be featured on the SDPB Building Big web site. Group and activity station leaders will be professional engineers from around South Dakota and student engineers from SDSU and the SD School of Mines and Technology. The Build-a-thon will also include tours of the Capital dome and the Oahe Dam. Teachers who wish to have their classes participate in one or both of these tours as part of their Build-a-thon experience should sign up for the tours when they sign up for the Build-a-thon. Tours will be scheduled individually for each school/class. To register your class for the Build-a-thon: Call the SD Discovery Center at 605-224-8295 For more information, contact the Discovery Center or SD Public Broadcasting (1-800-456-0766 or EdServices@sdpb.org) |