The Marshmallow Challenge is an engineering challenge that can be used in any content area or situation. In this challenge, students will work in groups of four to collaborate and build the tallest free-standing tower out of 30 strands of uncooked spaghetti, a meter of string, arm’s length of tape, and a marshmallow that must be mounted on the top of the structure. 

Students have 20 minutes to finish this challenge. In this lesson, students will apply the Engineering Design Process to ask questions, imagine solutions, plan, create, and refine their designs. This lesson can be used as a get-to-know-you activity, a collaborative team-building exercise, an engineering lesson, or a lesson with Math connections. Students are assessed on how successfully they complete the challenge.

View the complete lesson plan and rubric on Google Drive.