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iRubric: Tall Tower Challenge rubric

iRubric: Tall Tower Challenge rubric

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Tall Tower Challenge 
Popsicle Stick Bridge Building
Lesson focuses on the growth of tall buildings and their structures. Students work in teams to develop the tallest tower they can build with limited materials that can support the weight of a tennis ball for 2 minutes. They develop a design on paper, build their tower, present and test their tower to the class, evaluate their results and those of their teammates, and complete reflection sheets.
Rubric Code: NX9874X
By gpirollo
Ready to use
Public Rubric
Subject: Engineering  
Type: Project  
Grade Levels: 6-8

Powered by iRubric Forces Acting on Structures:
Popsicle Stick Bridge using 500 Popsicle sticks
  Poor

5 pts

Fair

10 pts

Good

15 pts

Excellent

20 pts

Appearance

Poor

Not aesthetically pleasing
Work is sloppy throughout.
Design is unattractive and/or plain.
Fair

Limited aesthetics
(shapes, patterns, etc.)
Design and use of glue is messy at times.
Some visual appeal.
Good

Overall, an attractive bridge (shapes, patterns, etc.)
Tidy work most of the time.
Visually appealing.
Excellent

Extremely aesthetic in design (shapes, patterns, etc.)
All construction is clean and attractive.
Visually appealing.
Structure

Poor

Tower with no real design.
Does not contain any truss or support structures.
Did not maximize use of materials.

Tower did not reach 100cm in height.
Fair

Tower with limited creative design.
Contains very few truss support.
Limited use of materials.

Tower did not reach 100cm in height.
Good

Tower designed with good creativity.
Contains a lot of truss supports.
Good use of materials.

Tower did not reach 100cm in height.
Excellent

Tower designed with excellent creativity.

Trusses are located on each wall.
Excellent use of materials.

Tower exceeded 100cm.
Teamwork

Poor

Partners ..no team work.. one person ran the show!
No respect shown. Did not follow CHAMPS RULES.
Fair

Partners ..some team work.
Some respect shown. Sometimes followed the CHAMPS RULES.
Good

Partners worked together, but occasionally distracted from their project in some way. Most of the time followed the CHAMPS RULES. Respect was observed most of the time.
Excellent

Each person was actively involved in the building process. All partners were treated with respect. Regularly followed the CHAMPS RULES.
Blueprint

- sketch
- pre-writing
description
- post building
reflection
Poor

Tower design does not match the design of the blueprint and changes were not explained.
Fair

Tower design somewhat matches the design of the blueprint.
If any changes were made during building, they were explained a little upon reflection.
Good

Tower blueprint mostly matches the design of the finished product.
If any changes were made during building, they were sufficiently explained upon reflection.
Excellent

Tower blueprint matches the design of the finished product.
If any changes were made during building, they were thoroughly explained upon reflection.
Durability

Poor

Truss Bridge design could not hold even a small amount of weight (rocks)
Fair

Truss Bridge design could hold a small amount of weight (rocks)
Good

Truss Bridge design held a lot of weight (rocks)
Excellent

Truss Bridge design was strong and sturdy. It held a great deal of weight (rocks)
Materials

Poor

Did not use materials well, excessive waste. Final project did not contain many straws or pipe cleaners.
Fair

Used some materials well. Final project contained some straws and pipe cleaners.
Good

Used majority of supplies without wasting many straws or pipe cleaners.
Excellent

Used the appropriate amount of straws and pipe cleaners, right around 200 of each.



Keywords:
  • Towers, structures, forces, science


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