Hey there! Are you ready for a fun challenge? Today, we’re going to build something cool using just cups. Yes, you heard it right—cups! My friend Squeaks and I love building things, whether it’s forts made of pillows or castles made of blocks. But today, we’re going to see how tall we can stack our cups.
First, we need to make sure we have a good place to build. A flat, hard surface like a floor without carpet is perfect. We’ll use plastic cups because they’re all the same size and easy to stack. Paper cups work too, but never use glass cups because they can break.
Let’s start stacking! We’ll place the first cup upside down on the table. Then, we’ll put the second cup right-side up on top of the first one. This way, it won’t slide off. Next, we’ll add a third cup upside down, and then a fourth cup right-side up. Things are getting a bit wobbly, but we manage to add a fifth cup. When we try to add the sixth cup, the tower falls!
Our first tower was five cups high before it fell. To make a taller tower, we need to make it more stable. Stability means it won’t wobble and fall easily. Let’s try a different way by building a pyramid shape.
We’ll start with three cups upside down on the table. Then, we’ll add two more cups upside down on top of those, and finally, one more cup on top. Look, we made a pyramid! This stack is three cups tall and shaped like a triangle with a wide base.
The wide base of our pyramid helps it stay stable. You can try this with yourself! Stand on one foot and see if you wobble. Now stand on both feet. It’s easier, right? That’s because two feet make a wider base than one foot. The same idea works when building towers.
In our first tower, all the weight was on one cup at the bottom. But in the pyramid, the weight is spread across three cups. A wide base spreads out the weight and makes the structure more stable.
Let’s try building an even taller pyramid! We’ll start with five cups on the table, then add four, then three, then two, and finally one on top. This time, our pyramid is five cups high! If we start with more cups at the bottom, we can build even higher.
Wide bases aren’t just for cups. Some of the most stable buildings in the world, like tall skyscrapers, use wide bases to stay strong, even during earthquakes.
Are you excited to build your own stack of cups? Ask a grownup to help you find some cups, and you’re all set to start stacking! Thanks for joining me on this fun building adventure. If you have any questions about building or anything else, feel free to ask!
Experiment with Different Shapes: Try building towers using different shapes. Can you make a square base or a circle base? Use your cups to create these shapes and see which one is the most stable. Why do you think some shapes work better than others? Discuss with a friend or family member what you discovered.
Observe Stability in Nature: Go on a nature walk with a grownup and look for examples of stability. Can you find trees, rocks, or hills that have wide bases? Take a picture or draw what you see. How do these natural structures compare to your cup tower? Talk about why you think wide bases are important in nature.
Design Your Own Building: Use building blocks, LEGO, or even more cups to design your own building. Think about how you can make it stable. Draw a picture of your design first, then build it. How tall can you make it before it falls? What changes can you make to improve its stability?
