“I think that the actual construction revealed the limits of structural components and design limitations,” said Baier about the dome built eighth period.

Students spent the days leading up to the assembly rolling 65 newspaper tubes.  These were then used as the supporting beams.  The beams were connected with bolts, washers, and masking tape.  Because of the self-supporting nature of geodesic domes, the construction phase had to be completed during a single class period. A half-constructed dome cannot support itself.

The sixth-period students were divided into two groups and each was responsible for one dome.  They raced to see who was able to complete the assembly in the shortest amount of time.

Emily Mitchell, a sixth-period physics student said, “Our group did great! We had a system going and stuck with it. We tried different ideas with the newspaper, as in how many we used, and worked well as a group.  Even when we had three people, we went to work and got it done!”

Eighth period, a smaller class, was responsible for building a single newspaper structure.  At the end of the construction time, the dome was not able to stay upright. The group eventually allowed the dome to fall to the ground.

“It was wonderful teamwork.  It went the way we wanted it to,” said Sam Markham, an eighth-period physics student.

The project gave students a hands-on way to learn about the construction of domes, such as the one located at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo. The project also encouraged teamwork and allowed for inter-class competition.

Next, physics students will be constructing bridges.