While getting caught up on my reading in Feedly this morning I came throughout a.
brand-new comic from The Oatmeal. The comic addresses the concern, “how tall can a LEGO tower get?” (Its a copyright-protected work so youll have to see it on The Oatmeal site). The comic is based on a 2012 BBC short article entitled.
How Tall Can a LEGO Tower Get? The comic and the short article prompted me to turn to YouTube for videos about building 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..

Applications for Education.
Prior to showing students the video or the post mentioned above, I d have them make guesses as to the response then compose out lists of the variables that they can think of that would influence how tall the tower might get. After they enjoy the video I d have a little classroom contest to see who can develop the highest tower with the LEGOs readily available in my class.

This post originally appeared on FreeTech4Teachers.com. If you see it in other places, it has been used without permission. Sites that take my (Richard Byrnes) work consist of CloudComputin and WayBetterSite. Featured image caught by Richard Byrne.

Last fall a YouTube channel entitled Lifes Biggest Questions tackled the question of “how high can a LEGO tower get?” The video describes the mathematics that was used by scientists at The Open University to figure how high a LEGO tower would get prior to the blocks collapsed under their own weight. Naturally, the mathematical response assumes that the tower wouldnt fall over prior to reaching its maximum height. So you then have to think about the general stability of the structure instead of just weight-bearing ability of the structure. View the video to find out more, its quite enjoyable..

The comic and the post prompted me to turn to YouTube for videos about constructing huge LEGO towers. The video explains the math that was utilized by scientists at The Open University to figure how tall a LEGO tower would get prior to the blocks collapsed under their own weight. Prior to revealing trainees the short article or the video pointed out above, I d have them make guesses as to the response then write out lists of the variables that they can think of that would affect how tall the tower might get. After they view the video I d have a little class contest to see who can build the tallest tower with the LEGOs offered in my class.