The blower roared like hurricane winds. Water poured down like a flood. Ice piled up like a blizzard’s fury.
Remarkably, the houses built by Ginger Rackley’s fifth-grade class at Saluda Elementary School withstood it all.
Students took on an engineering challenge just before the holiday break that combined weather science, structural design and hands-on problem-solving. After studying weather systems, student teams designed and built houses capable of withstanding one extreme weather condition: blizzards, tornadoes, floods or hurricanes.
The project required students to research their chosen weather event and write weather forecasts explaining the conditions their structures would face. They learned principles of structural integrity and what makes a house sound enough to withstand nature’s forces.
Each team started with the same basic materials, then carefully selected four additional items to strengthen their designs. The choices revealed student thinking about engineering challenges — which materials would best resist wind? What would prevent water damage? How could they distribute the weight of heavy snow?
Testing day brought the designs to life. Using a blower to simulate strong winds, water for heavy rain and ice to represent snow’s weight, students put their structures through extreme conditions. While there was some minor damage, the houses held up remarkably well.
