While getting caught up on my reading in Feedly this morning I came throughout a.
new comic from The Oatmeal. The comic addresses the question, “how tall can a LEGO tower get?” (Its a copyright-protected work so youll have to view it on The Oatmeal site). The comic is based upon a 2012 BBC post titled.
How Tall Can a LEGO Tower Get? The comic and the post prompted me to turn to YouTube for videos about developing huge LEGO towers. YouTube did not disappoint me in my search for videos that describe the mathematics and physics highlighted in the BBCs short article and The Oatmeals comic..

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The comic and the article prompted me to turn to YouTube for videos about building huge LEGO towers. The video discusses the math that was used by researchers at The Open University to figure how tall a LEGO tower would get prior to the blocks collapsed under their own weight. Before revealing trainees the video or the short article pointed out above, I d have them make guesses as to the response then write out lists of the variables that they can believe of that would affect how high the tower could get. After they view the video I d have a little class contest to see who can construct the tallest tower with the LEGOs available in my classroom.

The video discusses the math that was utilized by researchers at The Open University to figure how high a LEGO tower would get before the blocks collapsed under their own weight. Of course, the mathematical answer presumes that the tower wouldnt topple over prior to reaching its optimal height.

Applications for Education.
The question of “how high can a LEGO tower get?” is an enjoyable prompt for diving into conversations about math and physics. Before showing students the video or the short article mentioned above, I d have them make guesses as to the response then compose out lists of the variables that they can think about that would influence how tall the tower might get. Then after they see the video I d have a little classroom contest to see who can construct the tallest tower with the LEGOs offered in my class.