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Back to Educator Index | Dome Challenge Hands-On Activity Handout
Go to the Dome Challenge
- Have kids form domes by bending a few sheets of into a bowl shape. They will quickly note that the domes cannot support much of a live load. Then discuss geodesic domes. (triangles; they are a stable shape because compression acting on one joint is balanced by tension along the opposite side.)
- Have kids build miniature geodesic domes using gumdrops and toothpicks.
- Rolling the newspapers and measuring the tubes are time-consuming. This activity works best with large groups, so that each kid is only rolling a few tubes. Assign at least one adult "foreperson" to coordinate the dome assembly. Have kids decorate their tubes and attach them to the growing dome with an adult's help.
- The dome's joints are weak spots. Use plenty of tape to reinforce them.
- For safety, remind kids not to climb on the dome. Test the dome's strength by loading the top with magazines.
A dome must support its own dead load as well as the live load of wind, rain, snow, or ice. The geodesic dome's strength is due to the fact that triangles are very stable shapes. It is difficult to distort a triangle; compression at one joint is balanced by tension along the opposite side. The geodesic dome's design distributes loads over all of the different triangles that comprise it. Follow up with the Shapes Lab.
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