Today, we had two challenges: Mashmallow tower building vs. VR Tower Mini Coding Challenge

First, for the marshmallow tower challenge, with the materials we prepared, 1 marshmallow, 20 pieces of uncooked spaghetti, scissors, and 1 meter of masking tape, we need to compete whose tower is the highest within 5 minutes. Previously, We did a similar activity at school with kids, but their rules are that they have to cooperate based on teamwork. They first discussed the ideas on how they gonna construct their tower, and they build with their strategies. They could also observe other groups’ actions, but they could not discuss across the groups. After participating this activity just now, I think that organization and time management skills are critical and I really admire my students’ creativity. I should have pinched the marshmallow into small pieces, and used them to stick the parts as I built the tower.  See my first tower below. It is only one layer and not very stable because I did not build it with any strategies.

Second, the VR Tower Mini Coding Challenge was interesting. Although with limited coding experience, it was not easy for me to figure out the variations between x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis, it was cool to experience the magic of coding and being fascinated with it.