Working together in teams of three, Putnam Elementary fourth-graders carefully pondered the best way to put together toothpicks and marshmallows, as they tried to outdo each other by building the tallest tower in the classroom.

“This is fun. You can practice and practice until you build the biggest marshmallow toothpick tower in the world,” said Alaina Treffer, fourth-grader. “It’s fun because you get marshmallow on your fingers“

And fun is what engineers want students to think about careers in math, science and engineering. To promote interest in their jobs, local engineers from Advanced Micro Devices, Hewlett Packard (HP), Intel and Avago are giving presentations and hands-on projects to Poudre School District fourth- and fifth-graders as part of National Engineering Week, an annual event in which more than 40,000 engineers across the US and Canada visit local classrooms and talk to students about using math and science in their jobs.

This year engineers will reach more than 2,000 PSD students from 30 schools across the district. 

At Putnam Elementary, HP engineers Linda Kingham and Dave Matthews talked with fourth-graders about the different types of engineers and showed them how engineers have made an impact on daily life through tools like the Smartphone.

“We want to get students exposed to some of the things engineers do. We want to show them how engineering helps brings things together,” said Kingham.

“We want to get them interested early - in fourth and fifth grade – before they get to middle school,” added Matthews. “If we wait until high school, it’s too late. We also want them to know that even if they don’t go into a career in math and science, they will use it some way.”

Matthews kicked off the hands-on building activity by showing the students different models of towers made out of toothpicks and marshmallows, explaining different construction methods that worked and others that didn’t work. The student teams were then challenged to build the tallest tower in the class, which also had to stand solidly on its own for at least one minute to qualify as a winner.

“Engineers learn by doing,” said Matthews. “A part of this is discovering how you can build something with the right shape and the right dimension so you can build something that will last.”

The fourth-graders enthusiastically dove into the activity, hoping their team would build the tallest, strongest tower.

“We’re using our imaginations so we can be creative,” said Anastasia Romero, fourth-grader.

Teammate fourth-grader Isabella Serna noted, “And we’re using teamwork. This is just fun.”

Putnam fourth-grade teacher Sara Mauer hopes the engineers’ visit to her classroom will spark an interest in engineering with some of her students. “Trying out different things and taking the time to find out what’s working and what’s not working is a good experience for them,” she said.

Check out the PSD Channel 10 video below about Engineering Week at Shephardson Elementary!